Shattered (Redux)
by DrakeTheTraveller
Summary: After an experiment in inter-dimensional technology, a strange alien ship is brought into Lylat. What lays aboard is a charnel house of horror and despair, and the necrotized remnants of a once proud and noble species. One survivor remains...and this is his story. A tale of horror, camaraderie, love, and acceptance. (Revamp of an older story)
1. Chapter 1

Shattered: Redux

Chapter I: What Pride Has Wrought

_Pride comes before the fall…_

_-Anymonous_

**The Great Fox**

**Saturday, March 15****th**

**9 ALW (Years after Lylat Wars)**

A shaggy orange and white peaked tail slumped lazily off the side of a medium sized bed connected to the hull of a starship. The owner of that tail was none other than Fox Mccloud, legendary fighter pilot and leader of the Starfox Mercenary group. The twenty-two year old vulpine was an experienced warrior and leader. He had earned his deserved fame in the concluding years of Lylat wars and the more recent aparoid invasion a few months back.

Yet times were tough for Fox and his team. Peppy had left, taking up the now ill General Pepper's job as acting military leader of the cornerian armed forces. The old bloodhound had been weakened considerably after his trying time controlled by the aparoids. And as such, retired from his duties, confident that Peppy (his old friend), could be a more than suitable replacement. Since the end of the aparoid war, jobs for mercenaries had been scarce and trivial, not offering much in monetary means. The situation was further exasperated with the destruction of the original Great Fox at the aparoid homeworld.

Without their ship, they had been forced to take an old cornerian fighter carrier, a far cry from the fabled and venerable dreadnought. But Fox had taken another loan for a Great Fox mark-II, and needed the money to get it built, which made it doubly unfortunate that there were so few jobs available at the moment.

That was where the Starfox team found themselves at the moment, one man down and bunked on an old dilapidated vessel that barely functioned. Poor Slippy could barely keep the ship running all on his own. And Fox was thankful that he worked so hard to keep it afloat.

Fox sighed and turned over on his bed, staring up at the dull grey ceiling with deep sapphire and emerald green eyes. They needed a break, something that could pull them out of the rut they found themselves.

The communicator besides his bed bleeped softly and the diminutive blue light on it flashed repeatedly. Watching it, the vulpine lethargically moved to press the answer key with his right paw. "Fox Mccloud, here." He drawled off absently, holding back another sigh.

"Fox, it's Peppy." A welcomingly familiar voice echoed in the silent chamber.

Fox's eyes widened and he sat up from the bed and looked at the device. "Peppy! I haven't heard from you in ages!" The young vulpine blared at the small comms device excitedly. Indeed, Peppy Hare, esteemed father figure and experienced merc, has not spoken with either him or the team in a very long time.

"I am sorry about that Fox; this new job can be quite a handful. The only reason I have the time to talk now is that I have a favor to ask of you."

Fox frowned, a little disappointed, but he still remained upbeat. "Well either way it's good to hear from you again. So what's the favor Pep?"

"I know that things have not exactly been...running smoothly with you and the others. And I may just have the thing to switch that around."

Fox's ears twitched in anticipation and he leaned forward, tail bouncing back and forth behind him. "Really, what is it?"

"There is an upcoming demonstration for some newly created technology at Beltino's research station in orbit, and it's big. All the high ranking officials both in domestic and military branches will be making an appearance."

"That certainly sounds big, what's being demonstrated?" Fox inquired as he sat up from his bed, clothed only in a pair of boxers. The vulpine cut a slim athletic build, defined muscle tone and well-groomed fur. In _Fur Magazine_, he was considered one of the most eligible bachelors in the entire system. Something he wished they stopped printing, it was not fun being hounded by the paparazzi and female (and sometimes even male), masses, vying for the next scoop, or his ring finger.

As he went to the closet to get suited up, Peppy replied. "I can't tell you over the connection, but I can promise that if you take the job I have to offer, you will be paid, handsomely."

It worried Fox a little that it could not even be spoken of over a secure connection, but the promise of real money kept him hooked. "How much are we talking about Pep?" He asked as he popped his muzzle through his green T-shirt.

"200,000 credits."

"200,000 credits!" Fox exclaimed in disbelief, falling to floor. He had been trying to get his pants on when he heard that and stumbled. "What the hell are we going to be doing?!" That was more than enough to take out a sizeable chunk of the cost of the Great Fox!

"All you have to do is show up and provide additional security over the demonstration. Originally we were going to have members of the 48th commando division, but I managed to convince the others to let you guys interim in their place. I knew you could use the extra funds."

Fox smiled widely at that as he struggled into his pants and began to pull on a pair of socks. "That's good to hear Pep; we could sure use the extra dough."

"As I thought you might, but there are some additions to this price. You have to leave now, and grab your team. The demo is today and you have to be at the CDF building pronto. A few hours from now it will start with our without you there."

"Sure thing Pep, I'll get the others moving right now." Fox assured as he walked over to the bracer beside his bed, fully dressed. "See you in a few."

"See you soon Fox." Peppy disconnected from the call as the vulpine attached the comms device to his wrist. With a grin, Fox looked at his reflection in the small viewport in his room and fixed up his red neckerchief.

"Looks like things are starting to look up." He mumbled to himself and turned to walk out of his room.

He stepped out into the cramped and dimly lit hallway of the old carrier, and his grin diminished somewhat. Fox did not like to be reminded of how things had changed and the poorly kept corridors did just that. Fox paced down the hallway, looking for the first member of his team to grab. He knew that Slippy would be around the reactor room somewhere, tinkering away at one of the many outdated and neglected consoles or panels.

Taking the lift down to the reactor room, he could hear the clattering of machinery and muttering in the hallway leading to the large chamber. Fox entered the compartment, spying a figure hidden behind an exposed panel.

Slippy was dressed in a yellow and black jumpsuit with a plethora of tools tucked away on a belt and he sported a ball cap on his head. The amphibian was short and somewhat rotund, more used to machines and electronics then the outside world. Yet despite that he was a loyal friend and a decent fighter pilot….okay maybe an alright fighter pilot.

"Hey Slippy, busy as usual huh?" Fox shouted over the sound of what looked like a blowtorch.

The obnoxious noise cut off and the toad peaked around the panel with blue eyes, removing a pair of ear muffs. "Oh you know how it is, this ship needs constant upkeep." Slippy put down the torch on a nearby table and dusted off his gloved hands.

"Yeah, it does." Fox sighed, studying the grimy and cluttered room.

"Don't worry Fox; I'll get it in tip top shape, eventually." The amphibian nervously rubbed the back of his head.

"I know you will Slippy, and I can't thank you enough. If anyone could do it, you could." Fox praised his hard working friend. "But that doesn't mean you can't take a break every now and then, every time I see you you're fixing something around here." Fox suggested, taking in his friends tired appearance.

"I get ya Fox, I'll take break."

"Well it starts now; I need you to get ready to leave." The vulpine said, turning to the door and gesturing for the toad to follow.

"Really, where are we going?" Slippy inquired curiously, following after Fox.

"Peppy has a job for us, and the pay is huge. But we have to leave soon." Fox explained as he ushered Slippy to the lift, keying in the next stop.

"But I have to get cleaned up!" Slippy muttered, glancing down at his oily and soot stained jumpsuit.

"Just wash it down Slip, we don't have time for anything else. I need you to go get Falco, I'll get Krystal. When you get him, head down to the hanger." The Lift opened to the crew quarters and the pair stepped out.

"Why do I have to get Falco, he always teases me!" Slippy complained as he turned to head down the left corridor.

"Just do it Slippy, please. I am sure he won't do anything, just tell him that we are going to get paid a lot. That should shut his beak." Fox replied as he began to walk down the left path.

"Fine, I'll get him." Slippy grumbled, heading to the avian's room.

Fox watched him go before turning to travel down to Krystal's room. The cobalt vixen had hers far from the others, at the end of the hallway, where she could have her privacy. The vulpine was a little nervous talking with her; they had broken up over a personal dispute between him and her. He had not wanted her to get hurt, and she wanted to be able to help. While they were no longer together, he had managed to convince her to stay along. But she had one condition; Fox could not hide her away from danger. The vulpine had been reluctant to agree, but she had become like family and if he could not be with her, he could at least look out for her. Now she was more like a sister to him, a friend when he needed her.

Fox stopped at her door and knocked softly. A few moments later and the door cracked open a few inched and she poked her muzzle out. "What is it Fox?" She asked delicately in her slightly accented voice.

Krystal had a gentle and narrow muzzle, snowy fur fringed with a blue outline that covered the rest of her head. Her sea green eyes complimented her soft features and short sapphire shaded mane. She was tall, a full head and a half over Fox. And her bearing could only be that of a princess. Sometimes Fox found it a little intimidating to talk to her.

"Hey Krystal, Peppy has a job for us, but we have to get going now. Slippy is getting Falco, and heading down to the hanger." He explained to her, doing his best to not stutter.

Krystal was quiet for a moment before nodding regally. "Alright Fox, give me a moment and I shall be right out." The door closed and a minute later she walked out.

Krystal was dressed in a form fitting blue and black suit. It had elegant armored plates and looked appropriate both on the battlefield and in a royal palace. She walked with an almost undetectable sway in her steps and was the epitome of balance and grace. It made the vixen seem almost alien.

Which was partially true as she hailed from a world at the outskirts of lylatian space, but she could never go back home as it had been destroyed, presumably by the venomian dictator Andross. Fox had found her on a planet called Sauria, and although it had been some time since then, she still mystified him.

"Shall we depart?" She asked, shaking Fox out of his thoughts.

"Oh of course yeah, right. Let's go." Fox declared turning and leading her back to the ship's hanger.

Fox and Krystal entered the lift and descended down to the large open hanger of the carrier ship. In the hanger were six arwings, advanced fighter craft. They had kept Peppy's after he retired, but with no sixth pilot, it remained abandoned, as did much of the ship.

Falco and Slippy were standing by the starfighters, talking to each other. Falco was dressed in a red and blue pilot's suit with a white jacket. His arms were folded on his chest and he had a permanent smirk, splashed onto his beak. The avian was probably the most arrogant person Fox had ever met, but he was an ace pilot and great friend…when he wasn't being an asshole.

"What's the deal Fox, how much we getting paid!" He demanded as the two vulpines stopped with the group.

"A lot Falco just do as I say and you'll get yours." Fox retorted before sighing. "Look, we should get going soon, Peppy needs us their yesterday. It's a fairly simple job, we don't even to fly. All we have to do is stand around and look pretty."

"Easy money eh, I guess that's alright." Falco conceded.

"Good, now get in your arwings, were heading to Beltino's orbital station." Fox declared to his team, heading for his ship.

"We're going to my dad's station?" Slippy buzzed excitedly.

"That's right Slip we are. Just keep it together okay." Fox ordered as he clambered into his arwing's cockpit.

"Sure thing Fox, you can count on me!" Slippy saluted and jogged to his ship.

Falco watched him go and chuckled. "Sometimes Slippy cracks me up."

"You should be kinder to Slippy; he has much on his mind." Krystal recommended sagely.

"What could bother him? He always seems to bounce back from everything." Falco asked, looking at Krystal.

The vixen shrugged her shoulders and turned to walk towards her own ship. "It is not my right to say; perhaps you can ask him yourself."

"_Freaking mind powers_." Falco grumbled as he jumped into his own ship.

It was a short flight to Beltino's orbital research station. The carrier they were using was also in orbit and not that far away. They docked their arwings with the station and entered the massive domed structure. Inside, hundreds of scientists spent day in and day out, trying to find the next big breakthrough. And today they found it.

"There are a lot of eggheads here." Falco commentated as he joined his friends in the outer hallway ring, leading to where they were supposed to be. There had been a CDF officer waiting for them to land and she had directed them to this wing of the facility. It would seem that Peppy and the other heads were already there.

The closer they got, the tighter security became. Every passage way had at least three guards with menacing laser carbines and they could make out the seams in the ceiling where auto-turrets lay concealed.

"Wow, they really beefed up security." Slippy exclaimed as they entered the final room.

"Yeah, looks like Peppy wasn't joking." Fox muttered as he observed the ten heavily armed guards walking the perimeter of the huge circular room they found themselves in.

"I have a feeling that today will change everything." Krystal alleged as she followed after Fox.

"Is this a normal thought or a premonition?" Falco whispered as he kept pace with her.

"It's a little of both." She replied, smiling as she noticed Peppy surrounded by several others. They were all kitted out in uniforms and suits, the elites of cornerian society.

Fox walked up the short steps and shook the respected Hare's paw and smiled warmly. "Peppy, it's good to see you again." The rest of the team arrived and made their hellos.

"Fox, Slippy, Falco, and Krystal, it is indeed a treat to see you all again. Things have been busy and regretfully, that leaves me with little time for myself." The old Hare apologized.

Peppy was wearing a gallant red, black, and gold uniform and had an officer's cap planted atop his head with his large ears sticking out jauntily. But he also looked a little older, the stress of running an army taking its toll.

"It is all right Peppy." Krystal replied. "We understand that it is a taxing job. But we know that no one could do it better."

"Yeah you're the best!" Slippy piped in.

Peppy chuckled and shook his head. "I don't feel like the best. But I suppose you guys are right. But placing that aside I should introduce you to my colleges although, you already know of them." The Hare pointed to the three individuals behind him and made their introductions.

The first of course was Beltino Toad, the number one scientist and lead researcher. He had his webbed hands in every project and was involved in almost every type of field. He was also Slippy's father and had helped the team in the aparoid war, developing a countermeasure against the indomitable aliens. He looked much like his son, if a little taller and not as round. He had a pair of glasses he always adjusted and a cultured voice.

"Hiya Dad!" Slippy beamed.

"Hey there Slip, doing well I hope?" The toad responded as he cleaned his glasses.

"Of course I am."

Peppy smiled at that. "Yes well, let us move on."

The next person was Major General Leers, the CDF army commander and second to only General Pepper. The shepherd was a veteran of the Lylat wars and led the CDF in the defense of corneria after Pepper had been incapacitated. He was an excellent leader and strong warrior. Leers, was outfitted much like Peppy although his uniform was green and black.

The next person was Prime Minister Daala, a cheetah. She was the governmental leader of free Lylat and had many agreed that she was the best they had since Truval, who led during the outbreak of the Lylat wars. It was her second term elected and there was talk of letting her run again.

After the introductions, Beltino was given the floor.

"Dr. Beltino, I think you should explain what we are doing here. I think that many of us are interested to hear what this is all about." Prime Minister Daala suggested with a wave of her spotted paw.

"Why yes of course." The lab coated toad agreed, clearing his throat and placing his hands behind his back. He walked over to a screen and pressed a button, revealing an oddly shaped device.

"My colleagues and I have been working on a new form of conveyance. And because of its ground breaking possibilities, it required the levels of secrecy you may have noticed. We have uncovered the means of something you may have all heard of in old science fiction novels, interdimensional transit." He declared with a hint of theatrics, embellishing it somewhat. Still, it was astounding.

"Interdimensional transit?!" Slippy muttered, his face shifting into disbelief as he began to comprehend what it meant. All the other not scientifically gifted stared unblinkingly.

Seeing that the majority were stumped, Beltino sighed. "In layman's terms, we will be able to pull things from other dimensions, such as resources, minerals, and even possibly energy."

"So you're saying that this machine…" Falco gestured to the device on the screen. "Can access other dimensions?"

"That is correct." Beltino affirmed.

The avian shook his feathered head. "That's hard to believe."

"That is why we are testing it today, to prove the theory." The scientific toad countered. "If the machine works, then we would have a practically endless supply of resources to utilize."

"That sounds all and well, but what of these other dimensions? Would it not be unethical to take from them, if they somehow supported life?" Major General Leers demanded. The canine was studying the screen as he turned to the toad.

Beltino shook his head negatively. "The chances of taking something from a dimension that is inhabited are low in the one millionths of a percent. And the chances of taking something that would affect that dimension are even lower. It is perfectly safe to do so." The toad assured.

The canine shrugged, satisfied with the answer.

"Well than doctor, when will this demonstration begin?" The prime minister inquired.

"It will begin as soon as my assistants are done setting up the machine." Beltino informed, gesturing to the outside window, where they could see several suited up people working on a dish on the outer hull of the station. "For many reasons the test will be conducted outside the station, safety being the biggest concern. If, for any reason, something were to go wrong, it would cause minimal damage and casualties."

His dismissive tone worried the viewers but the toad seemed exceedingly confident in success. A few minutes of talking later and a male voice cut in over the radio on the console beside Beltino.

"The device is set up and in place."

"Excellent!" Beltino clapped his webbed palms together. "Quickly, come inside so we can begin the test." They watched as the suited forms of the assistants made way for the closest airlock, and within the hour they were back among the console trench in front of the observation room.

"Start up the device!" Beltino exclaimed with anticipation. This was the culmination of several years of debate and research. If this worked he would go down in history forever.

One of the assistants, a male lion, typed into a console and the dish began to move. It swiveled to point away from the defense fleet and into the depths of space where nothing could interfere. "Now powering up the device…" He called out in warning, the dish began to brighten and they could visibly see power being fed into it.

"The device calls for the consumption of a lot of power." Beltino commented before turning to the assistants. "Search for large concentrations of iron, titanium, aluminum, and nickel." The lab techs nodded and input the requirements.

Beltino explained it to Pepper and the others. "With this, the machine could snatch a large volume of the elements and bring them here, from there it would be relatively simple to take it and refine the minerals into serviceable resources. Imagine! We could build anything we needed and not have to worry about depleting our own planets!"

They all had to admit it sounded fantastic. Although, most could only think of the military applications, they could build fleets of ships and other machines of war. All they had to pay for was for the refinement of the raw materials. It would reduce the amount of credits spent on the military, credits that could be shifted to other departments.

They watched as the machine began to glow, and a large rippling fissure split in space. The blue and purple swirling anomaly was a little disconcerting based on its sheer size. It was big enough for several dreadnoughts to pass through.

"How much exactly, is supposed to come out of that?" Daala inquired a little hesitantly.

Beltino hardly heard her, as he was mumbling to himself and checking the projections. "This isn't right, it should be much smaller." He looked down to the console trench. "Power the machine down."

One of the assistants began to type on one of the consoles before frowning. "The device won't shut down sir. In fact it's drawing even more power throughout the station!"

Even as he spoke the lights began to dim and quite a few of the machines in the large room began to spark off. "The strain is enormous; it's bleeding the reactors dry!" A voice called out.

They watched helplessly as the dish began to vibrate and glow with barely constrained power, and what's more, something began to emerge from the dimensional fissure. First they mistook it for a huge lump of rock, but as it continued to draw forth, the obvious outlines of sentient manufacture were seen.

In short order a colossal dark rusty brown vessel emerged from the rent in space time and floated in space menacingly. It was massive, easily several magnitude larger than the small orbital space station. Then with a loud bang, the dish exploded and the power surge knocked out all power to the station besides critical systems.

Beltino and the others stood in the dark of the station and stared at the ominous vessel hovering outside the panned viewport. Leers chuckled fatalistically. "Well Toad, it looks like your millions of a percent chance just occurred."

Peppy frowned worriedly and looked to Fox. "What have we done?"

Fox stared at the alien vessel and looked to his old friend uncertainly. "I don't know Pep, but hopefully it is not too bad."

As he said that the entire defense fleet above Corneria moved to cordon of the strange titanic vessel that had just materialized in orbit.

A lone pair of heavily armored boots thundered down a blood splattered hallway. On the heels of the boots inhuman screeching and distorted howls pursued. The owner of the boots clutched their pulse rifle in trembling and blood soaked gauntlets. They fumblingly reloaded the weapon, sending the expended cartridge to the ground and inserting a half-full mag in its place.

The howling cries increased to an almost deafening nightmarish wail and the figure turned to run faster, panting heavily as they rounded a corner. Something leaped out at them and they exclaimed in shock, weapon blazing a trail of bullets scything down the attacker. Howling in an echoing rage, they brought a boot down on the aggressor until the splintering of bone faded into the squelching of pulped flesh.

Yet even as they expended their stressed emotions, the snarls and wails of the damned chased them onwards. As they ran down the hallway, the corridor shuddered violently and thy were tossed to the crimson stained ground, scrambling madly to their feet, they doggedly continued running, even as the hallway continued to rumble.

Finally they made it to their destination, a large open room with a view of the celestial sky. They turned and locked the door down, shattering the interface. Even as they thuds and booms echoed of the reinforced steel, the lone figure and bleeding figure stumbled to the large bank of controls and began to slam away at them with fear and desperation.

While they worked they looked out the massive dome of reinforced glass, and dropped their weapon in disbelief. What should have been a canvas of desolate starry sky, had been switched to a backdrop around a huge blue and green marble.

The figure muttered. "That doesn't make sense. The ark was nowhere near a planetoid."

They also spotted a white and blue gleaming structure in space, and several oddly shaped vessels closing in. "No. No. No. NO! NO! NO! NO!" They denied vehemently. "There aren't supposed to be any living things nearby, this will ruin everything! They can't get out! I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"

The figure went to the comms console and opened a channel on all frequencies; they could hear the harsh wail of tortured steel as _THEY_ began to peel the door open like a ripe banana. But they ignored that over the more important task at hand.

Turning on the comms array they spoke over every channel.

"This is Sargent Alexander Jäger of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces. I implore whoever you are to not try and board this ship. It is under an extraordinarily lethal quarantine. I repeat do not attempt to dock or even close with this ship, there is a monstrous plague. Everyone on this ship has been killed, I am the only survivor. Please, do not try to get on this ship."

The man heard a condemning _bang_ as the door to the bridge exploded open and a hoard of twisted and putrid mockeries of humanity stumbled inside, bellowing their ear splitting and mind numbing lustful roars for blood.

The soldier snarled and lifted his pulse rifle, squeezing the trigger and letting it roar in defiance as the creatures shambled closer, the sickening scent of decay preceding them. Pulse rounds burrowed into dead flesh and the warrior primed a grenade, preparing to toss it at the hoard. But a chitinous barb slammed into his shoulder sending the explosive off course. It smacked the dome and detonated. Moments later the harsh screeching of wind howled throughout the bridge as air was sucked into the vacuum of space. The soldier's boots magnetized and they watched as the monsters were sucked out to freeze in cold and unforgiving space.

But a massive creature, an amalgamation of contorted bone and warped flesh, maintained its grip on the flooring and charged at the man, impaling him with a bone like protrusion and disrupting his boot's connection with the hull. The barb broke off the creature's body and the man was propelled into space, clutching at the long spear-like object in shivering gauntlets. The light at the back of his suit switched from a dull blue to a dark amber and the man floated silently in the black void, breathing diminishing softly.

He passed the now frozen creatures and activated his suit's jets; angling for the strange facility. If they did not get his message he would have to deliver it personally. Wherever he was, they must be warned about the necromorph plague that had destroyed his people.

He spotted frozen ruby red drops as he neared the station, and looked to his torso. The barb from the brute had breached the suit and was lodged just under his ribs, missing vital organs. He would survive, if he made it to the station.

Looking for a landmark he saw a carbon scored section of the space-born facility and then a hatch a hundred or so meters from it. He twisted his wounded body and made for the airlock. The soldier maneuvered his boots to the hull and magnetized them, walking towards the entrance, watching as those crimson spheres dribbled from his side.

He managed to reach the airlock and banged on it weakly, hoping that someone would let him in. His vision was beginning to blur and he was losing his balance, even in the gravity free space. Yet before he could assume that he had reached the end of the line, the massive steel doors opened and he stumbled inside. There was the hiss of air as it flooded the compartment and gravity returned, instigating his to fall to the floor in a heap.

The other set of doors opened and he tried to look up, only managing to raise his head a few inches. He heard voices but was so disorientated he could not understand them. Instead he tried to stand and faltered almost immediately, luckily he was caught by several pairs of hands and placed on some sort of stretcher and carried away.

Soon though, his wounds seized him from consciousness and plunged him into the nightmarish shadows of his dreams, where the horrific shrieks of the undead beasts and the screams of weapons fire warred with each other.


	2. Chapter 2

Shattered: Redux

Chapter II: What Has Been Done, Can Not Be Undone…

Once you have made a decision and there is no turning back, acceptance is the only comfort…

_-Lucinda Riley_

The cornerians aboard the station gazed at the gigantic alien ship with fear and excitement in equal measure. This was something that had not been predicted. After conferring the scientist assumed that to answer the request for certain resources, the machine had pulled a ship, (created from those resources) into their reality.

It would seem that they had taken something from another plain of existence. And now they had to deal with the consequences. Beltino was pacing the observation theatre, muttering to himself. Thing's had quickly fallen apart, the device had been destroyed due to an overload, and now they had to deal with this vessel.

Yet the most disturbing thing was the silence. The ship neither moved nor even seemed to be under any power, perhaps it was a derelict? If that was true, then the situation might not be that bad. At least that's what they hoped.

But as usual, when you began to hope for something, fate seemed to want to dash it away.

"Uh Doctor Toad, Prime Minister Daala, and the uh, rest…" A young voice called out. They all turned to see a female weasel at the comms console. "There is an audio communications signal emitting from the ship…on all channels."

They all exchanged looks and Pepper spoke. "Play the communication."

The weasel nodded and pressed a series of buttons on the console. Moments later a male voice came over the intercom, and they were surprised to hear that it was in the same language.

"This is Sargent Alexander Jäger of the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces. I implore whoever you are, to not try and board this ship. It is under an extraordinarily lethal quarantine. I repeat do not attempt to dock or even close with this ship, there is a monstrous plague. Everyone on this ship has been killed, I am the only survivor. Please, do not try to get on this ship…."

At that condemning news, they heard an ominous bang over the line and a shuffle. The harsh whine of automatic weapons fire carried over and they heard what seemed to be some sort howling, as if from animals, but it was heavily distorted. Nevertheless it sent chills down all of their spines. Then there was a cry of pain and a brief explosion before it went dead.

"That's it." The lab assistant announced quietly.

Peppy nodded. "Get me in contact with the 1st defense fleet; tell them that they have been ordered to stand down. Nothing gets close to that ship until we have a better understanding of what's going on."

Fox, who had been listing to all of this with a worried grimace, felt Falco nudge him. The vulpine looked over to his friend and made an inquisitive face.

"Looks like we might be in over our heads….again." The avian muttered.

Fox had to agree with his friend's assessment.

"Absolutely fascinating…." Beltino exclaimed. "It would appear that whoever these people may be, they speak the same language. Perhaps they even have the same alphabet classification." The amphibian began to mummer theories to himself and jotting things down on an electronic pad.

Major General Leers was not as enthused. "That's all and well doctor, but we should focus more on the message itself." The canine turned to face the hovering vessel. "This Jäger fellow mentioned some sort of epidemic. Not only that but he said he was the last one left alive. If this is true, then why was there gunfire?" Leers voiced a very significant question. Indeed, why was there gunfire?

"Maybe there are some sort of automated drones on the ship; they may have gone rouge to contain an outbreak." Beltino hypothesized.

"I have never heard a robot make such noises." Pepper interjected. "That sounded more like some sort of creature rather than a machine."

"Maybe we're dealing with space zombies. I've seen quite a few movies that start of like this, strange alien derelict ship and swarms of undead monsters." Falco suggested, but even though he said it he sounded skeptical and had a joking tone.

"That's crazy…..right?" Slippy asked uncertainly. "I mean there can't be an alien zombie, that's just insane!"

"I wouldn't rule anything out son." Beltino replied. "This ship is not from our reality, there just might be something like that on the ship."

Before any more theories could be tossed on the table and debunked, one of the lab aides spotted something outside the viewport. "Doctor Beltino, there's someone outside!" The black and white dappled male canine pointed out into space, and indeed they could make out a figure floating in space.

They could see some sort of jet system on the figure's suit and they were slowly making their way to the station. A feeling of wonder and dread pervaded them as they studied the unknown figure nearing the station.

"What in the hell…." Leers muttered.

"Could that be the survivor?" Daala asked hesitantly.

"It must be, quickly, to the airlock!" Beltino ordered excitedly. "This could be a first contact situation. I always wanted to be there when it happened!" The toad blabbered as he hastily donned his lab coat and rushed out of the room.

"Wait, what about the pandemic?" Daala warned, rushing after the enthusiastic toad.

Fox looked to his friends and shrugged before following after Beltino, the others in quick pursuit. The party, and several guards donned in hazmat gear, rushed to the closest airlock.

Beltino was already there, practically giddy as he stared at the large rectangular viewport that peered into the pressure chamber. "I insist that you step back Dr. Toad." Leers commanded as he walked over and pulled the amphibian backwards. "We have no idea what may be coming through that room. The canine waved at the guard detail and they stepped forward, leveling their lethal black carbines at the doors.

They all were waiting for something to happen, and as the time dragged on, Falco got grumpy. "I bet that the guy isn't even at this airlock. Wouldn't it be great if we were all squished around this one, only for him to be at the opposite end of the station?"

Yet before his idea could take root, there was a soft and ominous pounding at the large steel doors. "Guess not…" Fox deadpanned.

"Should we open the doors?" Slippy asked fearfully.

It was at this time that Krystal spoke. "I think that it would be wise to open the doors."

Peppy looked to her and nodded. "If Krystal thinks we should, we probably should. She always seems to be right about these things."

The vixen always seemed to know when to do something, and they attributed it to her mysterious powers. She had yet to be wrong in any advice she has given, so it was safe to say that they could take her word for it.

One of the suited guards pressed the activation switch on the panel next to the doors, and they watched as the large steel portals slowly grinded open revealing the blackness of space.

Suddenly, a figure stumbled into the chamber, clutching at their torso. The lights in the chamber made it hard to see, and so they had to wait until the doors sealed and flushed the room with oxygen. Once it had stabilized, the lights flickered on and the artificial gravity asserted itself.

The newly lit room exposed a lone bipedal figure in a dark blue bodysuit plated in bulky black armor. They could tell by the person's physique that they were in fact, a he. His head was encased in a helmet with four slanted slits angling down like an elongated V, each glowing with a soft blue light. But the male collapsed almost immediately after the gravity flicked on, and they saw that he had been impaled by what looked like pieces of bone.

It was a gruesome sight.

"Open the doors!" Beltino ordered. "Good God that man is dying!"

"Sorry Doctor, not until we know that the room is free of any contagion." Leers refuted grimly. The man, (They could assume that he was this Alexander.), had warned about an epidemic. And they could not risk it spreading onto the station.

Beltino grunted and walked over to the airlock, reading the monitor. "The scrubber's are not reporting any known contagions. It looks safe." He turned to Leers knowingly.

The canine thought it over briefly before nodding. "Very well, open the airlock."

One of the guards nodded and input the command. Moments later the doors hissed open and a few of the hazmat soldiers walked in. "Get a stretcher!" One of them called out as they kneeled beside the man, the frozen crimson fluid splattered over the suit began to slowly thaw, the reheated blood cascaded down the man's armor, pooling on the deck.

Fox noticed that the man's helmet lifted marginally before it fell dropped; presumably he was too weak to keep it raised. Within seconds a stretcher team rushed in and they elevated him onto the pallet. It took several men to lift the heavily armored body.

Carrying the man, they rushed to down the hallways to the medical clinic, which was thankfully on the same level. Pepper, Fox, and the rest followed the stretcher team, flanked by the guards. It took little to no time for the team to barge into the clinic and to one of the operating tables.

They transferred the wounded man to the table and walked away, replaced by a team of doctors. "What's going on here? Who is this and what happened?" The lead doctor demanded; she was a female badger. Doctor Milah had seen many things in her days, but this topped them all.

The Prime Minister was quick to explain, the basics, that a strange ship had appeared and that he was one of the people from it. The badger looked at the man and grumbled. "If that's true, he might very well not be a cornerian, and I don't know how to treat aliens, but I'll do what I can."

She ushered them away from the table and turned to her two assistants, ordering them to restrain the patient. They complied, clamping down the steel cuffs built into the table. Once it was certain that he could no longer move, the badger began to feel around his body with her paws, looking for a seam or anything that could get him out of the armor. It would cost valuable time to have to cut it off.

As her paws manipulated around the back of the man's helmet, there was a hiss of air that made her flinch. Following that release of contained oxygen, a loud clatter was heard and the plates that formed the helmet peeled away to unveil a very alien face.

The man was covered in pale white skin, and was furless everywhere but on top of his head; where a small thin patch of black covered the top. He had a rather flat nose and mouth, and his eyes were closed, hiding their color. His cheeks and chin were also covered in a sparse coat of hairs. He had a strong square jaw and high cheek bones. Yet his skin was a sallow color, due to his injured condition.

"Strange…" The badger muttered to herself as she gazed at his face. But her attention was soon transferred to the odd barbs that seemed to be piercing him. The smallest one was pinned in the man's shoulder, and would be fairly easy to remove. The other however would prove to be a challenge. It was larger by quite a few inches, and it was precariously lodged in his lower torso where his armor was thinnest, just below where she felt his ribs. If it had not damaged any vital organs, (assuming that she guessed correctly where they were), it would still be difficult to remove without further exasperating the wound.

The female badger tapped at her muzzle and looked down at the man, trying to puzzle out a course of action. Eventually it looked like she found it as she signaled for her colleges to grab a few pieces of equipment, slipping on a pair of disposable gloves as they did so. They quickly complied and brought them over. The doctor nodded and gently wrapped her paws around the shoulder spike, and slowly; she eased it out of the man's body. The hole was not that bad, a few centimeters in diameter, the problem was the deep tissue damage it caused. She signaled for the doctor on her left to hand her the device he held.

She grabbed the tubular device and brought it to the hole, plugging it with a dark blue gel-like substance. Once it had been filled, she handed it back and placed gauze on the table to dress it up later. "I hope this stuff works on you." She murmured at the unconscious man.

Then Milah turned to the biggest problem, the large spike in his torso. She hesitantly wrapped her paws around it, and tugged softly, hoping that it would be just as simple.

But the man cried out in pain and tensed at the steel bonds. Immediately, she pulled her paws away and snarled a she looked at her torn gloves. "The damn thing's barbed."

The spike in his body was covered in microscopic hooks that seemed designed to stay buried in whatever they were stuffed in. That only deteriorated the situation. No doubt having a large barbed shaft sticking out of your torso was not only painful but detrimental to your health.

The badger growled quietly and she returned to thinking a she switched out the ruined pair of gloves for a new one. The only solution was to cut it out, and that would not at all be pleasant in any way. With a sigh she motioned for her other comrade to hand her a small handle. Once it was in her paws she activated it and a thin blue scalpel blade erupted from it. She brought the blade close to the man's torso and whispered. "Sorry, but this is going to hurt…a lot."

Then she slowly and with great precision, began to cut around the barbs. Almost as soon as her blade touched flesh, the man began to thrash in the restraints and cry out in agony. His eyes shot open, revealing a pair of burnished gold orbs, and he began to look around crazily. But if he planned on speaking, he didn't, just drinking in the room with wild eyes. The only sounds he made were pained as he tried to writhe away from the source of the pain. But the steel restraints were more than adequate in constraining his already enfeebled body.

Some moments after the operation began he must have been reduced to unconsciousness, unable to bear the pain any longer. His body soon stopped thrashing as well and they could have concluded that he was dead if not for the erratic movement of his chest as it jumped up and down.

Milah finished the gruesome task and removed the barb, dropping it on the small stand beside the operation's table and its smaller brother. It had taken a solid half hour to make sure that she removed it without nicking anything important. Usually it would have been finished much sooner, but she was running blind with the body she was working with. Thankfully it seemed that she didn't kill him and she slipped off her bloody gloves.

The doctor then spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to remove the rest of the armor. It was actually easier then it seemed. She found a small thing near the back of his spine and the plates separated, making it easy for them to be removed. It left the man in only his blue bodysuit, which covered everything but his head. She then filled the torso wound with the same blue gel and wrapped both in a thick layer of gauze soaked in antibiotics and manufactured enzymes that would promote healing, if they effected his body as they did to cornerians.

Once that was done, she washed her paws in the sink and walked over to the people who had been watching the procedure closely. "He should be fine, whoever _he_ is. I would like to keep him in a quarantine room until he awakens. It should hopefully minimize any panic he might have. Also, I would like to run his blood and tissue in the machines. We should find out more about him."

Peppy deferred to Daala on the matter as he was only responsible for military matters, the old Hare turned to the cheetah to hear her response.

Daala thought it over before nodding. "That would seem to be the best solution for this matter. We can hopefully find out more after he wakes up."

"Alright then, I'll start running tests right away." Milah walked away, gathering the plentiful amount of samples already available.

The Prime Minister turned to Beltino with a sigh. 'No doubt you know that this means your project is canceled."

The toad nodded gravely. "I understand and agree. It would probably be best to keep it shut down until we have a better understanding of it all. We should have waited longer before doing tests."

"It's okay Dad, we know you were just trying to help out." Slippy added helpfully.

"That may be true son, but look what it has done. What exactly have we brought to our world?" He muttered quietly as he watched the strange alien get wheeled away to another room.

"So….are we still getting paid?" Falco asked bluntly.

Fox shook his head in amazement. "Really Falco…? An alien ship appears and we encounter an alien in the flesh, and you're worried about payment?"

"What?" The avian demanded. "We still need money."

The vulpine rubbed the bridge of his muzzle in exasperation. "Some things will never change, no matter what."

Krystal had stayed quiet throughout the exchange. The vixen had been busy studying the stranger. His mind was a cloud of blackness, filled with strange headache inducing symbols and nightmarish visions. But under that was a diminutive bright light shined brightly, enveloped and shackled by the darkness yet remaining unbroken, It was curious, she had never seen it's like before.

She hummed to herself and rubbed her fuzzy chin. Something about that tickled the back of her mind, she was certain that she had heard of something like that, but could not recall where. It was on the tip of her tongue, and irritated her to no end. Perhaps if she were to speak with this stranger, it could dredge up what she was missing. But for now, she would bide her time and wait.

_Alex ran down the loud hallway, passing the panicked populace of the ark as he rushed towards his cabin. The roar of gunfire and frightened screams increased in volume as he switched corridors and continued his dogged pace. He clutched a pulse rifle in his sturdy gauntlets with grim determination. _

_He finally reached his hall, and the epicenter of the conflict. _

_He instantaneously spotted four men in armor as they fired down a corridor at a huge mass of bladed limbs and mandibled faces. He could tell that they were barely keeping it together against the terrifying foe they were trying to slow down. People continuously streamed out of the many rows of rooms as the soldiers covered their retreat._

_He joined the battle line and added his gun to their ranks. The two men standing beside him gave him appreciate nods, faces concealed behind their black and blue highlighted helms. He returned them as he emptied his clip into a particularly large variation of necromorph. _

_The creature gurgled as it collapsed without its sword-like limbs that it had been using to propel itself forward. He quickly reloaded and finished it off with a riposte. Eventually the creatures petered off until the corridor was silent, a colossal pile of corpses stopping scant inches from the five soldiers. The four men began to retreat but Alex advanced, climbing over the mound of corpses. They implored him to fallback but he ignored their pleas, hell-bent on his objective. _

_He jumped down from the top of the hill of necrotic death and rushed down the corridor with reckless abandon. He skidded to a stop in front of a room labeled D-870._

_He booted the door down and sprinted inside._

_"__SARAH! SARAH! WHERE ARE YOU?" He shouted, hoping for a response. He searched around the trashed quarters, desperately pining for her. "Sarah please…you __**have**__ to be here." The soldier whispered softly and slumped to the floor in defeat. _

_She wasn't there. _

_But as he was about to give up, he heard shuffling movement in the deep recess of the living room he had called home not so long ago. "Sarah?" He asked hopefully, standing up to walk over there._

_He shined the light of his rifle and illuminated the opposite end of the room. "Sarah…"_

_The figure stumbled out of the dark and into the dim light the low powered flashlight. "No….no..." The man stumbled backwards, dropping his rifle in numb hands and crawling backwards, moaning in agony. "No not you too….Sarah please listen to me. I…I-I can help you. I can fix this somehow. Please….don't make me do this. God, please Sarah. I can't…I can't."_

_The figure continued to lethargically advance upon the man as he pleaded in tears. Ignorant or uncaring off his appeals for reason. The monster that had once been Sarah McAllister shrieked and leaped on the man, trying to rip his throat out with its mandibles. _

_"_**SARAH!**" Alex roared, shooting up and breathing heavily. The man groaned and clutched his head, moaning softly. "God, these fucking nightmares are gonna kill me." It took him a long time to settle his breath and return to what he could perceive as normal. Then, the past events began to resurface in his mind and he looked around the chamber he was in.

Last he remembered he was in an airlock and had been taken away somewhere. He tilted his head to look at his body and saw that his armor had been removed and he was in his bodysuit. His left shoulder had been treated, as had his torso. So he could assume that whoever or whatever had fixed him wanted him alive.

It was a nice change of pace.

Sighing, he gave the room a more in depth observation. It would seem that he was in some sort of hospital room, except that it was sealed and the doors were made of heavy steel. Instinctively he looked for any vents or other methods of entrance into his room. There was a vent, but thankfully it was too small for any creature to enter, at least that he had encountered so far.

With his safety assured for the moment, he focused on the room once more. The walls were a soft white and the light in the room was bright but not unbearably so. The chamber had only a bed, a steel table bolted into the floor, and a chair, similarly secured. The only other features were a small room with a door, presumably a bathroom, and a large window near the main doors.

He sat up on the bed and began to think.

Obviously he was no longer on the ship, as he was sure that his escape was not a hallucination. So that meant that he was aboard that orbital. And it looks like they had quarantined him, so maybe they got his message. So that left one thing, what was he to do now?

Originally he was trying to reach the bridge of the ark so that he could find a way past the majority of the hoards to residential. There was something on that ship that he needed, and he would not destroy it before he got it.

He had to find a way to get back.

Alex supposed that he would just wait until something happened, that was all he could really do anyways. As he sat there waiting, he noticed a thin tablet sitting on the table. Curious, he walked over and picked it up, reading the title.

"_Fur Magazine_…..what the fuck?"

Peppy, Beltino, Daala, Leers, and the Starfox team stood on the other side of the observation window. It had been two days since they recovered the strange alien; the fleet had erected a quarantine zone around the alien ship and waited. Everyone waited, until the alien awoke.

They had walked into the room a few minutes ago, and were waiting as usual when he had his violent awakening. Peppy considered the stranger in the room thoughtfully. The test results had come in, and despite a few differences in DNA, he was practically a cornerian. He even spoke the same language. And apparently he could read it to.

Peppy watched with a small amount of amusement as the man flicked through the small electronic tablet, muttering quietly to himself. He seemed to have a permeant grimace of disbelief on his face, if the Hare could read him right. He supposed it was understandable giving the fact he was from a different dimension.

"What do you think Doctor?" Peppy asked, turning to Beltino.

The old toad brushed his glasses before slipping them on. "It is quite amazing. This man seems to be, in all intents and purposes, a cornerian with a few physical differences. The implications are staggering. Imagine…all the dimensions out there, each probably inhabited with a race, much like us."

"That's cool and all Doctor." Leers jumped in. "But what are we going to do with him now? It would seem that for the meantime he is stuck here. And there is still the matter of that ship he was on, and the fact he said he was the last survivor. Factoring in his wounds, and there are a ton of things we are missing here. We need more intel."

"I agree with Leers." Daala gave her input. "My first concern is the safety of our people. And if that ship is a danger, we need to know as soon as possible."

Peppy agreed. "They are right doctor; we need to get some answers."

"That may be so." The amphibian acceded. "But who is going to get them?"

"I could do it sir." Fox suggested. "I might be able to get him to talk. And it's not like we have any professionals on hand."

"Are you sure Fox? He might be dangerous."

"I think I could take him, he's still injured after all." The vulpine said confidently.

"He will not hurt you, although I think we may not like his answers." Krystal suddenly spoke up from her seat.

"How do you know that?" Falco demanded. "He's an alien, which makes him unpredictable."

The vixen shrugged slowly. "I have a feeling."

Falco scoffed and folded his arms. "A feeling she says."

"Hey! She hasn't been wrong yet!" Slippy defended her.

Krystal smiled at his efforts.

"Whatever." Falco muttered. "She could at least tell me the winning numbers sometime."

Fox chuckled as he turned to Peppy. "So, can I do it?"

"Go ahead Fox, but remember, he's an alien. Be careful." Peppy warned.

The vulpine nodded and turned to walk out of the observation room. He slipped out and turned to the door next to it, leading into the room. He put in the code and it clicked open, letting him enter.

Alex pored over the strange magazine with a pervading sense of wonder and skepticism. "Fox Mccloud voted number one hunk….huh." It looked like a normal gossip mag, the kind you downloaded for a few bucks at the store. The only difference was that all the humans had been replaced with animals. And not the kind that walked on four legs.

No, these were bipedal and looked almost human. He sneered as he read from the tablet. _What kind of shit was this? Where the hell was he now?_

When he thought of finding living aliens, he expected little grey men with huge freaking eyes. Instead they seemed to be humanized animals that spoke English nonetheless!

Alex tossed the paper onto the table and turned to sit back on the bed to think. But as he was, he heard the large doors to his room _click_. He rotated to see who was entering, half expecting it to be an elaborate ruse, and that some humans were pulling one over. But then he was reminded of a morbid thought. There were no more humans.

Everything ended with the fall of the ark…..everything.

When he saw a fox enter the room he knew that none of this was a game, or some sick twisted pervasive hallucination. It was real, and he was stuck here, how remained to be discovered. But at the very least things could begin to move along now. He hated being stuck in one place for too long, that's when the memories came back.

Alex sat on the bed calmly and watched the vulpine approach. And for the first time in six long months…he laughed, and he laughed hard. His entire muscular frame was wracked with a fit of snickers that confused and startled Fox.

The vulpine had no idea that the man had spent the last six months trapped on a derelict ship, fighting the horrific and warped remnants of humanity. And that after finally survive it all, he encountered a race of alien animals. It had dangerously clawed at his already strained sanity.

"Fox…Mccloud…Right?" He asked over his fit of dark mirth.

"What…how?" The vulpine asked. His voice was not as deep as his, but it still held the ring of command that he heard in his old lieutenant.

The man gestured to the table after his laughter subsided.

Fox turned to the table and saw his muzzle plastered all over the front. Alex swore that he saw the vulpine go red as he scratched at the back of his furred head. 'Oh yeah right…that."

Even as the laughter hurt, it had also stabilized him somewhat, allowing him to deal with his current situation with a little more tact then he would have before.

After that brief little back and forth, they lapsed into an awkward silence, as both parties tried to figure out how to start a conversation with an alien. "Take me to your leaders." Alex suddenly announced, sparking an odd look from the vulpine.

"What?"

Alex sighed wistfully. "Never mind, it was a…huh…joke…I suppose it makes sense that you won't understand it."

"Oh…ok." Fox replied weakly before the deadening silence resumed. A few moments and he tried something. "So….you're a soldier?"

The other man nodded. "Yeah, I wanted to be one for as long as I can remember. And you….you're a merc right?"

"Yeah, just following in my father's footsteps, that's what he was."

Alex made a little noise. "Alright, I suppose we should get down to business huh? You probably want to know everything don't you?"

"You got me there." Fox conceded with a chuckle. "Although I'm sure that it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."

The soldier nodded knowingly. "What do you want to know first?"

"Why did you say your ship was quarantined?" Fox asked.

At that the man's feature twisted into a grimace. "I think that all you need to know is that it would spell the death of your civilization if you stepped aboard it."

Fox blanched at that. "How could that be?"

The human shifted his gauze to the floor, his expression shifted from a variety of forms, sadness, rage, melancholy, and hate. When he tilted his head back up he was back to normal, a blank face. "How about you change your questions? I think that would be for the best."

The vulpine nodded uncertainly and switched gears. "What race are you?"

"I…am a human." He said that with a deep seated sense of pride, but it also had a tinge of overbearing sorrow to it.

"Human….interesting, never heard of them before."

"It's likely you never will." Alex muttered darkly.

Fox picked up on that but let it go. "What was the purpose of your ship?"

"It was a….you could say shelter. But it failed."

"Failed?"

"Correct, what we were running from followed us. And we died…or at least all the others did. I was the only one that remained." Alex lay down on the bed and stared up at the bland white ceiling. "I was stuck on that ship for a long…long time."

"How long is a long time?" Fox inquired curiously.

"Six months…six months of being hunted, scavenging and trying to live that one extra day to spite the enemy."

"Who was the enemy?"

The human turned on the bed to face Fox. "I pray that you never have to find out."

That was all he could get out of the human on that subject, so he decided to talk about something else. Fox spoke of the Lylat system, describing it to the human. After a few hours he stopped. "Thank you for your time Alex."

"Sure, not much else I can do now. I have nowhere to go." The man replied with a self-deprecating chuckle.

Fox grimaced at that as he stood up to leave. As he headed towards the doors, the human had one last thing to say. "Oh and Fox…."

The vulpine looked over his shoulder.

"Don't board that ship." The human finished seriously before turning away on the bed.

Fox nodded and turned to leave the room, heading towards the observation chamber.


	3. Chapter 3

Shattered: Redux

Chapter III: Pain Never Fades

_Time doesn't heal anything…it just teaches us to live with the pain…_

_-Anonymous_

Alex sighed as he paced the small room he had been confined to. It had been a few days since he regained consciousness, and he had not left the small chamber. They had fed him, and well. And they had also mended his bodysuit, and given him adequate clothing, (although the pants and underwear had holes in them). But he had not been allowed to step foot outside the quarantine room. He knew that it wasn't because he was infectious or anything, but because they had no idea what to do with him. And while it angered him, he understood.

If roles were reversed there was no doubt in his mind that anyone of them would be facing the same treatment. They had yet to tell him how he arrived here and he was wary of what the answer may be. From what he had seen of the stars, he was not anywhere familiar. By rights, he should be somewhere at the edge of the Milky Way, as that was where the ark had been. But the fact that a huge planet seemed to just materialize outside the ship, inclined that it was no longer in the same area.

So that begged the question, _how did it get here?_

He had disabled the engines, and knocked out the guidance system, so that ruled out the ship moving on its own power. Ad these cornerians seemed genuinely surprised that the ship was here, so it was unlikely that they were responsible.

The human sighed.

There were just too many variables and not enough answers, and yet that wasn't even the biggest problem. That was awarded to the ark. What skittered and shuffled aboard its silent and dimly lit decks had to be dealt with…and soon. The longer the necromorphs lingered, the higher the chance that they would find a means of escape. Those creatures were far from senseless beasts, they had a shadowy intelligence to them. They knew to hide and lay traps, especially with that infernal monolith guiding them. That artifact was some sort of amplifier, but the specifics were unknown. They didn't have enough time to study it before they realized what its true intentions were.

But before the ship could be destroyed, he had to go back. He had left something behind, and he could not let it be destroyed with the ark.

Alex walked over to the mirror and rapped on it with his knuckles. A few moments later, and a feline in dark green armor poked his head in. "What do you need sir?" He inquired.

So far the people of this strange place were kind, or at the very least civil, when speaking with him. He didn't know if it was because they were under orders or that it was just how they worked. In fact besides what that vulpine had told him over the past few days was all he knew about their race. And it was far from an in depth explanation.

"Can I please speak to General Peppy?" He responded the feline guard's inquiry.

"I suppose I can get the General." The cat replied before ducking out.

The human nodded in satisfaction and began to wait.

Several minutes later, the doors to his room opened and the good General entered with three guards. Alex sat on the bed while the General stood next to it. "What is it that you need?" He wondered.

Alex cleared his throat before beginning. "I have a few questions for you General."

The Hare nodded and gestured for him to proceed.

"If it is not too presumptuous, I would like to know what you plan on doing with me. It has been a few days and I want an answer."

The General was silent for a long time before he responded. "If I may be candid, we have no idea what to do with you." It was true; they had spent several days trying to figure out what to do with the human. Many proposals had been fielded and rifled over. With the machine destroyed, there was no means of sending him back, if it could even work. And they were more than a little hesitant on firing it up again. Daala had suggested integrating him into their society, but that was on the fence at the moment. Too much remained unknown about the human to conclude if that was a viable option. For that they would have to get the answers from him that he refused to convey, like what exactly was on that ship, and what they should do with it.

The human nodded his head knowingly. "I assumed that might be the case. But I may have a solution to your dilemma and my own."

Peppy inclined his muzzle, curious to see what the human had to say.

"You have my word that I will answer your questions to the best of my ability, and therefore help your people come to a decision and in return you allow me access to my equipment and let me go back to the ship." Alex voiced his ultimatum.

The Hare looked confused. "If what we even begin to suspect is true, why would you want to go back?"

The human sighed forlornly. "There is something I left aboard that ship that I simply cannot leave behind."

Peppy thought it over. They would finally get there answers, but there was no guarantee that letting him go back would be a good idea. But seeing as he was adamant in not speaking otherwise, and they had no means of getting him to talk besides those deemed unsavory. It was there best shot at the moment. "Very well, but you better not hold anything back."

"When I give my word, I keep it." The man declared firmly.

The General sighed. "Follow me; this conversation should be conducted in a better location." The Hared turned and walked out of the room, the human following. As the General walked, he spoke to one of the guards and the soldier saluted before running off. To where, Alex did not know.

Although curious the human's attention was stolen by the hallway he walked along. The walls were a bright and cheery white, with blue stripes running horizontal across the middle. They were angular and formed an almost honeycomb like structure that seemed to be the norm for the orbital. It was a far cry from the grim industrial grating and monotonous rusty undertone of human construction.

The individuals that perused the corridors were something to be studied as well. The collection of orderly garbed animal-people that meandered through the thoroughfare filled him with a sense of wonder. It faintly reminded him of his younger days, watching old cartoon movies where the people looked a lot like they did. Perhaps that was why he was not so overwhelmed by this situation. Or rather more likely, his horrifying experiences on that derelict dulled his senses and rendered all of this exceedingly tame by comparison. He had dealt with devils and demons aboard that doomed vessel, so a few furry people wouldn't shake him up too bad.

It was also easy to notice that the furs, (he decided to call them for the sake of simplicity), examined him with as much if not more wonder then he did to them. Most tracked him with their eyes and muzzles, following his movements and whispering to each other quietly. It was a little unnerving. It was natural for a human to be cautious of animals, it was instinctive. And even though they were far from their feral brethren, the sensation of unease lingered nonetheless.

Since most of them were wearing lab coats and other scientific garb, he could guess that this was some sort of research station. And for a few moments he had an overwhelming sense that they wanted to dissect him, but he pushed it down. That was ridiculous….he hoped.

Thankfully, the General turned down a less populated corridor and the all-seeing eyes diminished until he felt that he could ignore them.

They passed through a series of doors and arrived at a different area of the station, and judging by the outline, it suited an alternate service. This place had many doors and a little higher security. The rooms had windows peering into them and by a quick glance he correctly assumed that this was more of an office setting. Each room had a large metallic table and a legion of chairs; most likely these were the rooms that the scientist conferred in. The lighting was also dimmer and had a more subdued feeling to it. The corrido was quiet and very few furs could be seen.

At the end of the hall, he spied a room that was ajar and there was light seeping from the crevice. Since Peppy and his detail were heading there, it was safe to assume that it was their destination.

After entering behind the Hare, he scrutinized the room. It looked much like the others, except for the fact that it was populated. Before they entered, there had been eight occupants, two amphibians, Fox Mccloud, a red and blue feathered bird, a blue vixen with odd white tribal markings, a female cheetah in a very official outfit, and a male canine in similar attire in that of the General.

All eight were seated around the table, the female cheetah, older toad, and canine on one side, and the rest on the other. Peppy moved to sit beside the female cheetah and his retinue chose to stand by the doors.

Alex took all of this in and stood at the end of the table uncertainly.

"Please sit." The elder toad offered, gesturing to a seat at the head of the table.

The human slowly walked over and took it, a little subdued at the large number of people. He had been alone for six months, so the past events were a little overwhelming for him. Seated, he looked at the assembled group, waiting for something to happen.

Picking up on this, the female cheetah spoke. "I feel that introductions are in order. I am Prime Minister Daala Hargreaves, and the gentlemen sitting beside me are Major General Darius Leers, Doctor Beltino Toad, and of course General Pepper. On the opposite side are Fox Mccloud, Slippy Toad, Falco Lombardi, and Krystal. They are members of the Starfox mercenary company." The feline pointed to owners of the names. At the vixen's name he studied her curiously. Her coloring was strange, and she just rung as different from the others in his head. But before he could give it more thought Leers entered the conversation.

"Now you can return the favor."

The man nodded. "Very well, my name is Alexander Jäger."

"Well than Jäger, tell us a bit more."

"I served as a Sargent in the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces as a special operations, commando."

"Spec-ops huh…" The canine muttered.

"Correct, I was deployed when our conventional means of warfare against the enemy proved to be ineffective."

"And who exactly was your enemy?" The toad in the lab coat inquired.

Alex paused. "….The enemy was not exactly an adversary, more like a virus."

"A virus you say?" Beltino inquired curiously.

"Yes, although we never really understood them. We were far too busy trying to stop them to go deeper than that."

"How do you wage war against a virus?" Peppy wondered.

"By fighting its physical manifestations…." Alex replied slowly.

"What were those?"

"People…." The man responded simply.

"People….?" The Hare repeated.

"Yes, the virus repurposed deceased humans and used them to propagate its expansion."

"Zombies, I knew it!" The avian blurted out triumphantly. "I freaking knew it!"

Alex turned to him. "These were not merely undead corpses brought to life. They were mutated abominations, twisted into deadly killing machines. By the time the process was completed, they looked far from human."

"What physical changes did the subjects exhibit?" The toad asked curiously, holding a pad in his webbed hands.

The human whipped around to face him with a snarl. "They were not subjects! They were friends, family…loved ones!" His anger silenced the room.

Beltino bowed his head. "Yes of course, my apologies. Sometimes my eagerness to learn can run ahead of my brain.

Alex sighed before continuing. "The changed induced radical bone restructuring and often instigated the propagation of extra limbs; each could perform a variety of functions, but most formed along the lines of weapons derived from the person's bones."

"Dear god…." Daala muttered, horrified.

"Prime Minister Daala, after fighting with these creatures I tend to believe there is no god." The man responded to her outburst and continued. "This allowed each corpse to become a literal weapon. There are also other variations, but you will forgive me if I opt to leave them out. I would rather not talk about them."

"Of course you don't have to." The female cheetah responded.

"What did you call them?" Leers inquired.

"Necromorphs, as I am sure the reason is apparent."

"How did you fight them?"

"We didn't really war with them; it was more like a prolonged fighting withdrawal. Over the course of the years, they pushed us out of every system until we were reduced to a single massive ship, called the ark. It was our hope that we could escape and perhaps find a way to live where they could not find us."

"How could these monsters chase you? No doubt they were not intelligent enough to use ships." Beltino theorized.

"Yes and no Doctor. They could not fly ships, but they did have a means of following us. But because of the rather outlandish means, I shall keep that out."

"I am sure that we will believe you, after all everything about your arrival has been outlandish." The toad replied.

Alex shrugged. "Alright then, the necromorphs had one purpose, to spread their plague. And in order to do that they needed a sufficient amount of biomass. And when they reached critical mass, they used something called a Marker."

"What is a Marker?"

"To understand you will need a very brief crash course in human history." The man replied. "Humanity had used most of its resources and needed to find new venues. Around this time we discovered the first Marker. We assumed that it was an advanced ancient alien power source due to its almost unlimited output of energy. But that was a ruse. It was in fact a machine that emitted a certain signal that upon activation, turned dead tissue animate. And so unknowingly…we had sowed the means of our own destruction."

"Your people placed them everywhere, didn't you?" Leers asked perceptively.

"Indeed, and when they activated the entirety of the colonies was thrown into a three year long blood bath that stained the stars. It was called the Marker war. I was only fifteen at the time, and I had barely begun my service as a colony security trainee. Needless to say I had to grow up very fast." Alex went quiet, clearly deep in memory.

Sensing his silence he looked up and cleared his throat. "My apologies, there are many…painful memories of that time. Anyways, the point of the matter was that Markers were the catalyst for something we called convergence."

"That sounds ominous." Fox muttered.

"It was, we don't know how and we never figured it out. But somehow, once it had gathered all of the collected '_materials_', and fused them in low orbit. What would form was literally a moon sized amalgamation of bone and flesh covered in dirt and rock."

"That sounds crazy." Falco scoffed.

"It may sound crazy, but I assure you, it was terrifyingly real. These creations were vastly intelligent, capable of telepathy and could in fact drive people insane." We simply called them moons."

Beltino was hastily scrawling away on his pad as he responded. "Intelligent you said?"

"Yes, they could communicate with each other and certain people already affected by the Marker's influence."

"Influence, what do you mean?"

"The Marker signal had an adverse effect on certain people. It could play with someones mind. Most people affected by the artifacts developed schizophrenia and other psychoses, but one prevalent thing was hallucinations. People reported seeing dead loves ones again and even holding in depth conversations with them, and that they seemed to know things that the person didn't know."

"That's Incredible, terrible, but still incredible." The toad exclaimed.

"In any case, these organic things could move by themselves and that was how they continued to find us. And that's what happened. They found us and we couldn't escape that time."

"So when you said you were the last survivor…" Slippy began.

"The ark was the last bastion of humanity. And so when it fell, so did the human race. I am the last." Alex finished softly. "Everything I knew…everything I held dear…is gone…like ash in the wind."

The man took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, wiping his eyes before looking to the old Hare. "And that's all she wrote. Now General, I gave you my explanation, told you my story; I hope you will keep your promise."

The others looked to the General, confused.

Peppy nodded softly. "I am also a man of my word. You will have your gear back, and I will arrange transport."

Alex nodded thankfully. "Thank you sir, I appreciate it."

"Where is he going?" Daala inquired.

"He is going back to the ship." Peppy announced.

"What in the hell are you talking about?!" Leers growled. "We should be blowing that damn thing up!"

The human slammed his fist onto the table. "Not until I get what I need from that ship!"

"What could possibly be worth heading back into that death trap?" Falco demanded.

"….I have my reasons." Alex retorted quietly.

"This is not up to debate. I will keep my promise." Peppy declared authoritatively.

"If I do not come back in ten hours, you can blow the ship up." The man assured the canine.

"But why, what could be so important as to face all that again?" The cerulean vixen spoke up.

"There are some things there that I cannot leave behind." He answered her softly. "I owe it to someone to retrieve them."

* * *

Alex fitted his gauntlets onto his hands, tightening them and synching the locks. He finished donning his armor, having patched the holes, and was making his final arrangements. The man was inside a small cruiser that would dock with the ship long enough for him to disembark before it quickly flew away.

The area outside the docking tube had quite a few people present, more than was necessary he suspected. Most were guards, making sure that the drop went smoothly, but a descent portion also included a few spectators, watching as the human prepared to depart. Word had spread about the human, and what happened to his people. It seemed that some could not keep a secret, unless of course it wasn't supposed to be a secret. It didn't matter to him; he was too busy contemplating his return.

He really, really, _really_ didn't want to go back onto that slaughter barge. But he _had_ to retrieve what he left behind. After that, (assuming that he survived), he would gladly watch it get blasted into oblivion, but not a moment before.

The people close by were the Starfox team and the others he had gotten to know over the few days before he was ready to leave. He had waited until his wounds were completely healed, and whatever it was they did to help him, had reduced that time considerably.

After he finished his explanation, he was allowed free roam of the station, albeit with guides. But the members of Starfox were happy to take that job. He found them all to be rather nice, but different. It was hard to get used to their differences. Often he would stop mid-conversation and stare at their peculiarity before realizing it.

They were an alright bunch, he had the easiest time with Fox, The orange vulpine reminded him of an old friend. And Slippy ran close second. Both shared a love for fixing things and he in fact had helped the man with his armor. But the toad was shy and it was sometime hard to get a conversation out of him.

Falco was an annoying guy and all around seemed to be full of arrogance. But he had seen him when he wasn't being an asshole and he had potential.

Krystal on the other hand….

Something about that vixen rubbed him the wrong way. Not that he disliked her, but it seemed that she always seemed to know things. And that in itself was disconcerting. Other than that she was a well-spoken and thoughtful person. He also had to admit that her eyes were rather beautiful.

As he finished adjusting his armor he heard a voice from behind him.

"Are you sure that you won't let me go with you?"

He turned to see Fox, standing there with a concerned expression in his muzzle. Alex chuckled. "I appreciate the offer, honestly, it really means a lot to me. But I will not allow anyone to go with me. This is purely a selfish venture, and to endanger the lives of others just for that is absolutely unacceptable. Whatever it is that happens in the next ten hours, will befall me alone."

The vulpine frowned, and Alex placed a gauntlet on his shoulder. "It'll be fine. I wasn't meant to be here anyways. This isn't my world, my world is gone. If I die then that's how the cards play out. And if I live….well….I just suppose that we'll have to wait and see." The man turned to the airlock and walked over, pressing a button and opening it. The doors hissed open and he stepped inside. The other end of the seal was a large room of rusty brown, covered in what looked like blood. An eerie wail emanated from the other ship and whispered into the one Fox stood in, sending a shiver down his tail. Alex turned to Fox and smiled as his helmet clattered out to cover his head. The voice that came out was slightly distorted. "It has been fun Fox, for the few days I knew you. It was nice to talk with another living being, even if they are alien."

The doors to the airlock sealed and Fox watched through the small window as the man proceeded deeper into the bowels of the terror ship.


	4. Chapter 4

Shattered: Redux

Chapter IV: In the Darkness…

_Without darkness, one cannot know light…_

_-Anonymous_

Alex stepped onto the cold deck of the ark as he heard the airlock seal behind him. The man refused to look back as he pressed onwards. He knew that he might be tempted to just turn and run back to the safety of the light, and the people. It was ironic as the people he knew were long dead and gone, and in fact was probably waiting to include him into their macabre embrace.

He resisted the urge to flee and instead, summoned his pulse rifle from the digital storage system connected to his RIG. The familiar weight and power of the weapon gave him a small modicum of comfort. In preparation, he also retrieved his melee weapon. A creation of his own devising, the weapon was a repurposed and redesigned plasma saw. The end result was a sword-like blade comprised of a stream of suppressed plasma that could easily cleave through flesh, bone, and steel alike. It had saved his skin countless times in the past. And he knew that he would be using it again before he left this place.

He attached the hilt to his waist and continued down the hallway he slipped into. The soldier aimed his left gauntlet out, palm down facing the floor. Moments later a light connected with his hand and the deck, guiding him to his destination.

Alex had left the things he wanted back on deck-J, which was a sizeable walk from where he had been dropped off, Deck-C. It would take anywhere from two-to-six hours to get there and back, depending on if he tried to be stealthy or if he just rushed through brazenly.

The soldier decided that discretion would suit him best. So with a path and course of action planned, the man shouldered his pulse rifle and started his journey through the charnel house.

* * *

Fox walked out of the airlock room with a frown on his muzzle. The vulpine felt a deep sense of loss that increased the farther he got from the derelict. It was strange, he didn't know the human that long and yet he felt as if the man had become his friend. In all the conversations he had with him, he had been a soft spoken and rather mellow man. He never saw him angry at anything. If Fox was in his situation, he imagined that he would have become bitter and hostile to the world at large for damning him to such a fate. And yet Alex wasn't like that. Sure there were times when he would lapse into silence, but besides that he could be considered normal, even better than normal.

All in all, the human was a nice guy to have around, and now in all likelihood, he would meet his end on the ship that held the monstrous remnants of his race, all for some sort of personal keepsake. He didn't think he would have been able to do it if the roles were reversed.

Fox entered the small dining hall aboard the Defiance-class cruiser, planning on getting a meal. Inside there were a few crewmen and he spotted his team at a table in the back. He quickly went through the food line-up, grabbing a tray with mashed potatoes and synthesized beef. He took the foodstuff to the table his friends were at, sitting next to Falco.

The avian was plowing through his food without a care in the world. "Doesn't it bother you?" Fox asked his friend.

"Does what bother me?" The bird demanded as he took a sip of his water.

"Maybe the fact that Alex is probably going to get himself killed?" Fox deadpanned.

Falco turned to look at his friend. "Look Fox, he said that no one could go with him right?"

The vulpine nodded.

"Which means that we can't do anything for him, so why would I let it drag me down? That wouldn't do any one good, least of all him. Besides, he can take care of himself. He said he was stuck on that death ship for six months, I'm sure that ten more hours won't kill him." Falco explained as he continued to eat.

Fox shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe it…you're actually making sense for once."

"I have my moments." Falco replied smugly before frowning. "Wait…for once?"

But by that time Fox had already moved on, looking to Slippy. "What are your thoughts Slip?"

"I don't know…all this stuff is crazy. But I do think that Alex was, is, a cool guy. He likes fixing things, like me!" Slippy responded.

Indeed the human seemed to have a knack for tech like Slippy did. The few times he had seen the pair talking, they had been discussing things that went over Fox's head. But they both seemed happy enough.

Fox nodded and looked to Krystal. "So, resident telepath, what are your thoughts on the human?"

Krystal slowly looked up from her food, which she had been carefully picking at with her utensils. The azure vixen gently placed her equipment down on the tabletop, wiped her muzzle with a napkin, and replied. "He was….different, and yet familiar. I could not get an in-depth read on him, as something was strange about his brain. But I was able to pick up on his feelings. The most prominent was loss, rage, hatred, regret, but most of all, he was pensive. He reminded me much of myself not too long ago. And it is easy to understand why. He lost everything, as did I."

"Makes sense, you both lost your people." Fox muttered thoughtfully.

"Correct, but he is still haunted by that loss. My people were destroyed, as painful as it is to say. Whereas Alex's people still linger as twisted mockeries of themselves. I fear that he has the greater of the two evils." Krystal informed them.

"It sure does blow." Falco added. "I mean, your whole race, turned into monsters. For once I think that blows is inadequate, more like getting kicked in the teeth and then punched in the nuts."

Fox grimaced at Falco's rather bold comment. But the avian once more did have a point.

"I just want to see what it is like on that ship." Fox added. "I feel like we don't really understand."

When he said that, Slippy looked down guilty.

Krystal picked up on his emotions. "It would seem that Slippy has something to say on that matter."

Everyone at the table focused on the toad, and he lifted his head, twiddling with his hands.

"What did you do Slip?" Fox asked with a sigh.

"Well, when I was helping him with his armor I kinda….bugged it." The toad admitted, rubbing the back of his bald head.

"Jeez Louise Slippy why would you do that?" Fox demanded.

"It's not my fault, Leers told me to do it!" Slippy confessed. "He wanted to know what the human was dealing with in case something bad happened."

Fox growled. "That's not how we do things Slippy. Does Peppy know?"

"I don't know; all I do know is that he wanted a stream of the footage linked to his office, so that's what I did. Although, I also opened another feed for myself. I have it hear on my communicator." The amphibian lifted up his device.

"Well what are you waiting for? Turn it on!" Falco said excitedly.

"What we can't do that! It's a breach of privacy!" Fox retorted. "I don't think he wants anyone to see."

'So, Leer already broke it, it is only fair that his friends get to see too!" Falco countered.

"Oh so you're his friend now?" Fox asked, raising his brow.

"Maybe…" The avian muttered defensively.

Fox sighed and looked to Krystal. "What do you think?"

"It would be improper of us to intrude upon his privacy…." Falco threw his feather hands up. "…However, I think that it may be necessary this one time." She finished with a smile.

"Ah yeah, Krystal's in on it!" Falco hooted, pumping his fist.

Fox chuckled and wiped his muzzle with a paw. "Alright, alright, Slippy start it up.

The toad was quick to type away at his communicator with his experienced fingers. Within moments, the holo-emitter puttered on and an image began to render. But the sound finished first, and the first thing they noticed was the harsh barking of a ballistic weapon and bone-chilling howls.

"Holy shit!" Falco exclaimed.

* * *

Alex growled as he caught the swipe of a necromorph's talon with the body off his pulse rifle, sending shockwaves traveling through his wrists and into his arms. Swinging the now scarred weapon, he battered the bladed limb away and delivered a suit enhanced Hail-Mary to the creature's mandibled face with his left gauntlet.

There was a brutal _crack _as he snapped bone and ruptured skin, sending the decayed head soaring off of its owner to splat against the far wall. But that did not stop the beast. Instead it continued to attack, now silently, attempting to spear him once more with its bone scythes.

He ducked low, dodging the lethal swipes, and kicked out one of the monsters legs. The knee introverted with a clean sounding break. And it collapsed. As it fell, the soldier grabbed the hilt on his waist and activated the plasma sword. It crackled to life brightly, illuminating the corridor in soft blue light and revealing the three fallen corpses of his previous foes.

"Die motherfucker!' He growled, scything the screaming blade through its torso and rendering it into chunks of flayed and scorched meat. He continued to growl as he then pummeled it with a boot, smashing the corpse further into a pulpy paste.

When he finished expending his rage, he dropped to the ground in a heap and tiredly recuperated, deactivating his blade and returning it to its home. "I fucking hate this place." He panted irritably as he gathered his spent stamina.

As per freaking usual, the stealthy approached fail gloriously. Less than ten minutes after he started, he had been attacked by a small pack of regular, or as he liked to call them, _slashers_. He opened a door that led to the lifts, and instead of an empty hallway, there had been ten of them, just standing there with their rotten thumbs up their butts. It went without saying that they were most enthused to see him. Thankfully even though he had been gone for close to a week and a half, his instincts were still top notch. He avoided the first attack and then danced the dance of death.

Now the corridor was deserted, not counting the ten dismembered necromorphs. Alex sighed and reloaded his pulse rifle, dropping the mag as he materialized a fresh one, ramming it home. The gun snapped closed and was ready for action once again. The soldier sighed as he stepped over the bodies and entered the elevator. He keyed in the lowest level of Deck-C, and leaned against the wall. He had forgotten how trying constantly fighting for your survival could be.

The lift shuddered as it began to descend and Alex stood in silence. Faint music began to play in the background, and he groaned grouchily.

He hated elevator music.

At last the lift pinged quietly and opened, depositing him on the final level of the deck. Bearing his rifle, he entered the monotonous hallway and proceeded onwards. The light stemming from his rifle revealed the deserted corridor and its long dried blood pools. Bits of flesh were scattered across the floor, and timeworn bodies of fallen monsters lay sprawled about. The sight of the corpses sent his paranoia on overdrive.

He had learned the hard way that not every cadaver was truly dead.

Alex stopped in the hall and shined his light on the nearest carcass, observing it from a distance. The soldier could make out the antique bullet holes and desiccated limbs, marking it as a dead one. He stepped over it and continued with his corpse check.

On the third body he stopped.

This one looked like it had been an engineer before his forced mutation. The lower body was still wearing the heavy duty armored pants and he could see a torn patch on its shoulder. Its sickle arms were in repose on the creature's lap, and for all intents and purposes could be considered dead. The necromorph's head was bent at an awkward angle, all the way back to where the forehead could touch the spine. He could see ragged flesh stretched across its abused frame and its chest was flayed open, revealing putrid entrails and a smaller pair of hands situated on the abdomen.

"_Sneaky bastard, aren't you?_" Alex whispered to himself with a grim chuckle.

He took his left hand off the forestock of his pulse rifle and shifted it to one of the nearby corpses. Then he activated the kinesis engine and tore one of the blades off the body to hover in front of his palm. Alex flexed his hand and the blade dove straight for his target.

The '_dead_' necromorph squealed as the javelin-like limb plunged into its chest and pinned it to the hull. As it thrashed and wailed, trying to dislodge itself to attack him, the soldier scoffed and digitized his rifle, brandishing his plasma blade.

The sword activated with a _hiss_ and erupted from the hilt, generating a low hum that permeated the area. He stepped over to the withering creature and spun the beam of energy, detaching its two fore limbs. In the same motion he hacked the blade into its shoulder and carved it into two pieces.

The creature immediately stopped moving and he shut the blade off, turning to resume his journey, hoping that things would stay relatively simple.

The necromorph collapsed to the floor, peppered by a hail of pulse rounds. Yet even as gravity pulled it to the deck, the pulse gun continued to thunder as it cut down another beast behind the first.

Alex quickly jogged backwards, firing into the hoard he had stumbled upon a few minutes after stepping off on Deck-J. It seemed that the farther he progressed into the ark, the number of necromorphs he encountered increased dramatically. He was running dangerously low on pulse ammo and his pistol had been knocked away, dropping through a floor grate, lost forever.

It took him five minutes to deal with the hoard, and all but one of his ammo clips. And he knew it would only get harder the closer he got to his destination.

Deck-J was a residential deck, which meant that the amount of necromorphs here would be staggeringly high. But he remained undaunted, stepping over the corpses of those he once knew. He was close, closer than he had ever been before. It had been almost impossible to reach the residential area before. But after he had drawn the majority of the hordes farther away, to the bridge, he had a chance to slip in and snag them.

Alex activated the holographic control on the door past his little warzone and progressed past it.

The other side of the door was a large expanse, a plaza where people had been able to walk through and converse with one another, at least until the end came. Now it was a bloodbath, countless body parts were scattered amid oceans of coagulated blood.

And not all of the body parts belonged to adults.

The soldier slowly entered the plaza turned charnel house, swinging the light of his gun back and forth to pierce the darkness. The holo-counter on his rifle informed him that he had 125 rounds left. It sounded like a lot, but he could burn through the entirety of that in less than a minute, and that would leave him with only his plasma sword, something he was not looking forward to that.

His armored boots made a sickening squelching noise as they stuck to the gummy deck. As he headed towards the small lift that would take him into the apartment center, he spied a small object that had not been here when he last walked these bloodied halls.

There was a small plushy, lying in a disturbingly fresh puddle of blood and an alarming amount of shellcasings. With a growing sense of unease, he neared the new environmental location.

He stopped just at the cusp of the blood pool and kneeled down beside it. Alex enfolded his gauntlet around a tiny brown teddy bear. He could feel a warm dampness between his gloved fingers as he held the plush and a steady stream of red liquid cascaded off of it and back into the puddle. The soldier gazed into the toy's unseeing black plastic eyes and his hands began to tremble.

Alex dropped it like it had been lit aflame and stumbled backwards loudly, tripping over an arm and falling into the older blood. Almost crazed, he scrambled away from it until his plated back collided with a fountain, sending casings scattering to the four winds. The sound faintly reminded the stressed human of wind chimes as they tinkled softly in the stifling silence.

His shivering continued as he enveloped his helmet in his bloodied gauntlets and the man began to whisper to himself imperceptibly as he rocked back and forth in the darkness, his rifle lying abandoned by the fresh pool of blood.

The dawning realization, that there had been others still alive had shaken him to his core.

But he was not given much time to think about that.

A low droning wail echoed through the plaza and he heard the distant shuffling of many pairs of limbs. The golden brown eyes underneath the black helm widened in fear and he scrambled back onto his feet. His biggest fear had been realized, he knew that specific screech better than any other.

The patter of countless tiny malformed feet closed in and the moaning wails of the damned became deafening.

Driven mad by the shrieks, he sprinted towards his errant rifle.

_The pack had come for him…._

His gloved fingers were millimeters from the grip of his rifle when he was violently thrown to the ground. Alex felt something on his back as claws scrabbled on the plates of his bulky armor. Screaming, he reached his hands backwards and wrenched the diminutive necromorph off of his back and brought it to the deck with as much force as he could muster.

The little demon ruptured as putrid flesh met unmoving steel.

He threw himself to his feet and turned in time to snatch a second hell fiend out of the air as it bore down on him with s squealing howl. He pulled his plated fist back and rammed it into the distorted and mutated face of a small child.

Its haunting wails were silenced immediately.

He tossed the deceased creature to the ground and once more tried to reach his rifle.

Ten feet from the weapon, he was brought to his knees as several small forms pounced onto his spine and dragged him down with their combined weight. He cried out in pain as he felt a small set of unnaturally sharpened teeth dig into his neck, burrowing into it in search of his larynx.

With steely will, he ripped the head off his neck and its body, using it to bash another creature off of him. He felt blood spurt out of his wound as he clawed himself over to his weapon under the pummeling off numerous clawed limbs.

As his consciousness began to fade, he felt the palm of one of his gauntlets fall on something, _cold steel_.

Adrenalin flooded his system as his newfound grip tightened on his weapon and he roared as he forced himself back to his feet, shaking violently and removing all the excess baggage. He whipped around and spotted the massive swarm of dwarfish creatures.

They collectively hissed at him and charged forwards in a wave of pale flesh, sunken eyes, and deadly claws.

His response had been the booming cacophony of gunfire.

The high velocity rounds devastated the hoard of necrotized fiends and in short order silence once more pervaded the plaza.

Alex stared at the scattered bodies of what had once been children and his empty rifle clattered to the floor from numbed hands. He sunk to his knees and his form shook noiselessly. The soldier's helmet folded back into his suit, revealing bloodshot eyes as hot tears flooded down his face as he was wracked with pained sobs.

Eventually, he managed to get a hold of himself, wiping the tears away with his bloodied gauntlets. The helmet once more enclosed around his features and he returned to his feet, and any evidence of his sorrow was concealed.

The soldier walked over to the bodies and whispered a soft prayer for the departed. He hoped that wherever these kids were now, pain and suffering lay far away. He comforted himself with the thought that he had at least put their tormented bodies to rest.

Alex turned and headed for the small lift, yet after he got a few feet away he looked back. The man returned to the fresh blood pool and retrieved the teddy bear. He stared at it for a long time before he belted it to his waist.

He took the lift to the apartment complex and it opened a few minutes later. Alex stepped out and entered the deserted hallways. He meandered through, searching for his old place. Eventually he began to find things that refreshed his memory, bodies of necromorphs he had put down, and other landmarks.

He knew that he was close when he found a large pile of corpses blocking off a portion of the hallway. Alex climbed over the biological blockade of withered and bones dropped down to the other side. Slowly, he walked the corridor, slowing down the closer he got to his room.

By the time he reached the threshold he had to force physically force himself to cross it.

Alex swiveled his helmet as ran over the familiar place with his eyes. Everything looked just as he left it when he had fled, all those months ago. As he crossed the foyer into the main section of the apartment, he was assaulted by a vivid flashback.

* * *

_The monster that had once been Sarah McAllister shrieked and leaped on the man, trying to rip his throat out with its mandibles. Alex held its snapping jaws back with his left gauntlet as he tried to push it away. He managed to throw it back and struggled to his feet. _

_It warbled at him once more with its desiccated lungs and charged, flaying its deadly bone scythes. He rolled away from the attack and fumbled at his waist for his sword. He ripped it off and flicked the switch, bringing the glowing blue blade forth from its confinement._

_The monster rushed again, unheeding of the energized blade. _

_It swung at him and he flicked his wrist, separating the blades from its body. He twisted as it tried to grapple him with its smaller arms and he plunged the blade all the way to the hilt into its chest cavity, tearing it sideways and ripping it out in a flood of putrid gore. _

_Instantly, the monster that had once been the love of his life collapsed motionless as he followed it down to the ground. He placed a gauntlet on its chest and looked to the mutilated face of his beloved. "I'm sorry….I am so, so sorry, I should have been faster. I should have been faster…"He kept repeating that to himself as he cradled the deformed corpse._

_The smell of cauterized flesh and decay infested his nose after he had removed his helmet. He brought his fingers to his lips and then pressed then onto the forehead of the body. _

_But before he could even begin to grieve, he heard something move behind him and he had to evade a deadly blade that buried itself into the deck. He turned to see one of the creatures, dressed in tattered cloth, as it charged him. With a pain filled howl of rage he tackled the necromorph and forced it to the ground. _

_The soldier's plated fists rose and fell like the hammer of an angry blacksmith, and soon the creature under his grip stopped moving, but his fists did not…_

* * *

Alex reeled from the intense remembrance and took deep shuddering breathes. He shook his head and walked past the living room, doing his best to not look at what still laid on the floor. He entered the small bedroom he had lived in and moved to a small drawered table by the side of the bed. Atop the drawer was a small holo device. He picked it up and pressed the button, in response a holographic image of a smiling man and woman materialized.

Silently, he shut it off and stashed it in a compartment on his armor.

He opened the drawer built into the little table and rifled through it, lifting out a small black box and placing it with the holo emitter. He grabbed a few more things and stowed them away as well. Lastly, he pulled out a large handgun from the drawer. He checked the ammo cylinder and then closed it with a nod.

With that complete, the man sat on the bed and sighed heavily. He sat there for an hour before he considered himself stable enough to keep moving. He willed himself up and walked out of the apartment, but nor before he found himself looking back to the body that lay on the floor of the living room.

Alex shook his head roughly and turned away, walking back out.

He then began to backtrack, following the path that would lead him back to the airlock. Honestly, Alex was surprised that he was still alive. He had thought for sure that he would have been killed by one of the many horrors that prowled the derelict. But it seemed that his luck continued to hold, if you could call it that.

He certainly did not feel lucky, rather, he felt like shit.

Alex exited the second lift and arrived back on Deck-C. He cautiously stepped out, handgun aimed at the darkness.

Something was not right….

His return journey had been free of any necromorphs. Instead every hallway was dominated by a deafening silence and it was making him extremely fidgety. The slightest noise jolted him and made him look around rapidly.

He neared the airlock and immediately stopped. An extreme feeling of _wrongness_ began to slither down his spine and a deep chill sunk into his bones.

A faint giggling whispered from behind him and whipped around, pointing his gun at something scant feet away, what he saw made him issue a gasp and he stumbled backwards. "Sarah…?" Alex asked hesitantly.

A woman in a flower print dress stood opposite him.

All the members of Starfox saw was Alex talking to an empty corridor.

The woman nodded but refrained from speaking.

"W-what b-but that's impossible. I-I killed you." He choked out. "You were one of them."

Sarah giggled and flicked her auburn hair back. "Oh was I?"

"DON'T PLAY GAMES WITH ME!" He roared, shaking his handgun at her. "You're dead, GONE!"

"That's merely what you perceive Alex." She responded mysteriously.

"That doesn't make any sense." He growled.

"Only because you are unenlightened….."

"Unenlightened…?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes, you and the rest of humanity, none of you understood our true purpose." She explained.

Alex shook his head, backing away. "You, you're not Sarah."

"I am, and I am not." The women retorted, slowly advancing on him. "You see, no one ever truly dies."

"I know what this." Alex snarled, backing up to the airlock. "This is all just a hallucination; the Marker on this ship is playing games with me."

"Oh this is not a game. This is an offer." The women refuted. "You may have noticed that your journey back here was smoother than before."

He nodded hesitantly.

"That is because we allowed it to be, a show of faith if you will."

"Why would you do that?"

"The answer is simple; I want you to join us. We know that something has changed, brought us to a new dimension where we could show others the true path. We need their help."

"Help with what?" He demanded.

"To make us whole…." The specter responded simply.

"You want me to help you escape?" He spat out in disgust and disbelief.

"Yes, you sabotaged the engines and the guidance system, fix those and we will reward you." It promised.

"_Reward me_…" He muttered darkly as his rage boiled over. "REWARD ME! You killed of my entire race, turned them into fucking monsters! And you have the damn balls to ask me to help you do it again!"

"We can bring her back." It cut in. "We can reunite you with everyone you had lost."

He shook his helm and aimed his gun. "You must be crazy if you expect me to swallow that horseshit."

"I think we both know who's crazy here." She fired back with a giggle.

"Sorry bitch, but I don't make deals with the devil. I'm going to leave. And when they torch this ship and turn it into ash, I'll be smiling." He chuckled darkly, backing up into the airlock chamber.

"We can't just let you leave, you know that." She scolded in a condescending tone.

"Oh yeah, how are you planning on stopping me? I'll be long gone before any of your pet monsters show up."

"No, actually you won't." She denied.

Alex looked at her in confusion and then in alarm as he felt his hand start to twist on its own, shifting the barrel of his pistol towards his head. He grabbed it with his other gauntlet and clamped down, trying to force it back. He could hear movement at the end of the corridor as the hoards that had been held back were allowed to come forth.

He needed to leave, but if he removed his hand to press the airlock button, he would blow his own brains out. Alex fought with himself, keeping the gun at bay as he struggled to figure out a way out of this situation, meanwhile the pseudo Sarah gazed on with a satisfied smile. "Do we have a deal?" She asked.

"Not a chance monster." He growled, as he strained to hold his hand back.

Now he could see the necromorphs as they barreled down the corridor towards him, a veritable ocean of the dead.

It was at that moment he decided to deny her any satisfaction. "I hope that if there's a hell, I'll see you there." He growled before letting go off his hand and slamming the airlock closed. The gun wiped towards his head and the weapon barked once.


	5. Chapter 5

Shattered: Redux

Chapter V: …There Is Light

_By the light of night, the day becomes…_

_-Pamela Leigh Richards_

The first thing he remembered was the light.

The man correspondingly recalled the weightlessness and extreme cold; it was hard to recollect anything else. He had faint flashes of recent memory, but they were far too jumbled to be of any use, flickers of shadows, images, voices, and bone blades fluttered through his disorientated cognizance as he faded in and out.

But he did know that at some point the weightlessness dissipated and the bite of heat began to thaw his body. He could also hear many panicked voices and the feeling of a cluster of hands lift him off of some hard surface. The man was carried away to someplace that had even brighter lights and a faint beeping noise pierced through his muddled senses. The noise blared quite a few times before it stabilized.

From there he completely faded and embraced the blackness.

A pair of golden eyes shot open and was greeted by a soft white colored ceiling. As they observed the bland color, the owner tried to sift around their brain and pluck memories out of the disorderly chaos. Soon, concrete thoughts began to form and the memories came flooding back.

He had been on the derelict, and he had somehow escaped, although that part was still fuzzy.

Alex slowly rose a few inches and swiveled his head to either side of him, trying to figure where it was he found himself now. He picked out a small bank of machines to his left and a soft beeping persevered in the open air. To his right, was a long row beds with a similar setup, but he appeared to be the only occupant in the room. All the other cots lay in disuse.

Soon after his sight came back, his feeling did as well. And there was a soft aching pain that persisted, running from a little to the side of his left eye and down to his chin, passing just under his jaw. Curious, he ran a single finger across and felt that the area had been covered in some sort of cotton-like gauze. He felt around the wrapping for a little bit before he returned his hand to his side.

There was another source of pain, on the right side of his throat, and when he did a preliminary observation with his hand, he discovered that the area had also been bandaged in much the same manner. Aside from the other various aches and pains encompassing his body, he appeared to be in good health. And that came as a rather pleasant surprise.

For once nothing hurt.

But of course that did not include emotional pain. He knew that he would suffer from it for the rest of his life, (however long it may be). It would always be there, hovering over him. He was the last, no one else remained. Humanity was not but dust in the wind now, just an ocean of memories contained in a single mind. And when he died, they would be forgotten.

As he sat there on the bed, consumed by depression, the door to the ward whispered open and he lifted his head to see who was entering. And when he identified the blue furred individual that sedately strolled over and took a seat beside his bed, he studied her curiously.

The cerulean vixen was dressed in a dress that was a soft purple color. Her claws and her fur were immaculately groomed and she sat with a dignified poise. It was quite obvious to him now, that she was some sort of royalty.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

"I'll live." Alex replied. "Although at the moment whether that is a good thing remains to be seen. What happened, how did I get here?"

"The cruiser we were in recovered you; they found you floating outside of the airlock." She explained as she delicately picked at her tail with her black claws.

He vaguely recalled the events that led up to his rapid exit of the ship. "What sort of condition was I in?"

Krystal became silent for a few moments before replying. "Your helmet had been breached and you were partially frozen when they retrieved you."

"Partially frozen…" He muttered with a faint smile. "That must have been interesting."

"I assure you it was not. We all were rather worried about you." She retorted softly as her muzzle seemed to study her lap as if something thought-provoking sat there."

"Why would you be worried about me? No one knew me for that long. I would hardly call it a travesty if I were to die." He said honestly.

At that she huffed. "It is a travesty if any good life is cut short. And while you may not think that we all considered you a friend, the truth lies in the opposite."

"So you think of me as a friend?" He asked with a small grin, which only irritated his cheek.

"….I do." She said slowly, looking up from her lap and revealing her creamy white muzzle with the glowing blue backdrop. Her black canine lips were curled up into a small smile.

"That's nice, haven't had friends in a long time." He leaned back onto the bed and sighed. "Where are the others?"

"Fox is talking with the General, Falco went with him, and Slippy is with his father. No one thought that you would wake up so soon." She informed as she ran a paw down her thigh, swiping away non-existent dirt.

"So why are you here so early?" He asked curiously.

"I have been around here, waiting for you to wake up." Krystal explained.

"How long was I out for?"

"It has only been a day and a half since you were recovered."

"You waited that long?" He inquired with a surprised expression.

"Of course, it was not that long. And besides, there is nothing really to do on the station anyways." The vixen shrugged off simply.

His grin returned with full force. "Either way, I appreciate that."

She inclined her muzzle daintily. "Your appreciation is welcomed. Besides, I would be lying if I did not have an ulterior motive."

"And that is?" He wondered.

"I was hoping that you would speak to me of your people. I would very much like to listen." Krystal looked at him intently, her long bushy tail gracefully wagging in her lap.

Alex was honestly surprised to hear that. "You want to know about them?"

"Why certainly." She responded.

"Why are you so interested?"

"No memories should ever completely die. And perhaps in that instance we can help each other." The vixen suggested.

"Really…how would we do that?"

"My people are gone, much like yours."

"Your people are gone?" He asked, confused.

"Yes, I am not from Lylat, but rather from a planet far from here. But it was destroyed and I was the only survivor." She explained; a small hint of pain lingered in her voice, even with such a brief explanation.

He nodded in understanding. "I see, so how can we help each other?"

"It is simple, you will tell me of your people, and I will tell you of mine. And in that way, we both will carry each other's stories." She explained with a flick of her ear.

At that he smiled, well and truly, for the first time in a very long time. "I think that is a wonderful idea."

She returned his smile, and her tail began to flop in her lap much faster than before as she yipped. "Excellent, I hoped you might agree!"

Her enthusiasm was infectious, and he found the grim thoughts from before fade as he began to recount the tale of humanity, both the good and the bad. He did what he could to remain truthful, but he was no historian, so he recognized that some parts were either going to be incomplete or would be heavily embellished. But that didn't matter to him, what did matter was that he was enjoying himself, for the first time in a very long time. It also occurred to him, that as he spoke, it became not only easier to talk about, but it also helped bring acceptance.

As Alex talked, the hours quickly passed and soon he realized that he had been mouthing for quite some time. He had been quick to correct that, telling her to begin her tale in return. She smiled thankfully at that and quietly cleared her throat before speaking.

As she talked of wondrous things and amazing tales, he became enraptured in her pleasant and smooth accented tone. She spoke of things he could only think were magical and sounded like they belonged in fanciful stories. But not once did he think she was lying, instead he was amazed at what her people were like and found that he felt sorrow at their passing.

Sadly, it seemed all too soon that she paused. "We shall continue this another time, for we area about to have visitors." She declared, moments before Fox, Falco, and Slippy entered together. The trio grabbed chairs and brought them over to his bed.

"Hey, good to see you awake." Fox said with a grin as he sat down.

"And you're chatting up Krystal too eh!" Falco said with a knowing chuckle.

"We were just sharing stories." Alex countered, his face getting heated.

"I thought it was rather pleasant." The vixen added, giving him a smile.

"Either way, it is good to see that you turned out okay. You had us all worried there." Fox cut in before Falco could open his beak again. "It looks like that ship beat you over one."

"That it did, and I am glad that I never have to set foot on it again." He replied. "When is it going to be destroyed?"

"They were going to do it as soon as you were recovered but Peppy managed to postpone it. He knew that you would want to be there." The vulpine answered.

Alex nodded. "I do, I'll have to thank him when I get the chance."

"So, what did you get?" Slippy cut in excitedly.

All they knew for sure was that he had grabbed a holo and a box. And they could not ask him outright, because he would know that they had been watching him through the entire thing. And through all the terrible things that had happened to him. It still troubled them and they wanted to get a few answers from him, but the chance of his incurred wrath for treading into private territory was not worth the risk. So for now they would have to be content in their silence.

"I picked up a few personal things, pictures and the like." He replied before suddenly frowning. "Where is my stuff?"

"Peppy had it placed under guard until you were well enough to retrieve it. You can go get it when they clear you from the hospital." Fox placated him.

Alex sighed in relief. "That's good. Am I on the station once more?" He inquired.

"Nah," Falco replied. "Once they grabbed ya, you were taken to Corneria Medical, the best damn hospital on the planet."

"So we're planetside then." Alex muttered thoughtfully. He had not been on the surface of planet in four years. That was four years without a scent on the breeze, or indeed a breeze in general, or of the wonderful greenery that was life and the open expanses that a ship denied him. "When am I going to be released, and what is going to happen to me?"

He had no idea what lay in store for him. Now that he had what he wanted from the ship, he allowed himself to think about the future.

And it was uncertain.

The man did not know what this new place meant for him. It was a world in which he did not belong, he was never meant to be here. And so now that he was, it remained to be seen what happened and what would become of him.

"Well, the Prime Minister came to a decision yesterday. She is going to allow you to integrate into our society. You will be given an ID, a bank account, a starting credit sum, and the pick of any field of job you wish to aspire to." Krystal explained to him.

That in itself was daunting to him, to be released into an alien society, among the masses of fur and tails. He was fine interacting with these few, but to suddenly find himself propped in a society of living beings, after being alone on a ship filled with nightmares, he felt a great unease stir in his stomach.

Krystal picked up on his unease, without having to resort to her telepathy. She had been in a situation almost identical to his own not too long ago. And while she may have looked the same, she still felt like an outsider. "Don't worry; we'll help you get settled in."

"Yeah, you can count on us!" Slippy backed her up with his trademark enthusiasm.

Falco simply nodded his head and Fox smiled.

With such support the nervousness in his gut diminished to a bearable level. "Thanks, that means a lot to me. It will be hard to adjust, I know it. But I think that I will be able find a place here." He said gratefully as he gave another genuine and rare smile.

* * *

It had been a week since he was dismissed from the hospital, and the first thing he had done was go back into orbit and watch as the cornerian fleet bombarded the derelict with high intensity lasers.

He thought that he would be smiling as he watched the hull boil away and every trace of the evil that had plagued him for the majority of his life was annihilated. Instead, he almost broke down on the bridge of the ship he was viewing the destruction from.

That ship was the last physical manifestation of humanity that he would ever see. All he would have left was his armor, his weapons, and the few mementos he almost lost his life to retrieve. Everything else would be erased by the unforgiving red and green beams.

And so as he had watched the fleet methodically incinerate every last particle, a single tear made its solemn and isolated way down his now scarred visage.

His last sojourn into the ship had not come without a physical gift.

He had a nasty healing scar running down his face from where the bullet had whizzed by his skull, leaving a craggy furrow in its wake. It had been close but his quick reflexes had prevented his death, but he had not escaped unscathed.

It would always seek to remind him of what he had lost, every time he looked into his reflection. But at the lease the necromorphs would never again plague him or anyone else. Their infernal malevolence was gone for good.

_Or at least that's what he thought….._

For a single piece of debris escaped the systematic destruction, a diminutive and unassuming chunk of rock, that glowed with an ominous red light. As it vanished into the vast blackness of space, it had one motive.

It would once more bring convergence to the unenlightened; they needed to be placed onto the proper path…

* * *

Once he thought that his past and most of its painful memories were behind him, he tried to start on his new life.

It was a monotonous undertaking.

He first had to become a registered citizen of Corneria, and all the paperwork that required. Thankfully he had help in that department, Krystal had been kind enough to sit with him and help him, considering that she had done the same before.

Alex was beginning to really appreciate the vixen's presence, she always was there when he needed help and she seemed to be the only one that could truly understand what he was going through. It was nice to find such kinship in this world he now found himself stuck in.

Likewise, the vixen was glad to have someone who she could find a common thread in, even if it was based on suffering. And it was rather nice to have a man who seemed to treat her as if she was not made of glass. In fact the more time she spent with him, the looser she became, throwing off a little of her regal bearing and letting herself try and be just another girl. It was a pleasant change.

In the days after the destruction of the ship and his registration, lylatian society was in a tumult. The news finally hit the airwaves about the massive ship that had been floating above the capital world. Most of it was doctored though. The story was that the ship had arrived in space above the planet with a plea for help. And while the government had done everything they could, only one of the aliens survived.

And in sympathy, they allowed him to live amongst them, so that he could at least have a decent life. Nothing had been released of the deadly necromorph outbreak in the bowels of the ship, or of the means as to which it appeared. And while there where many conspiracy theorists out there, who were actually pretty close to the truth, they were discarded as usual.

It was then that he found himself at an impasse.

Alex was sitting in the office of General Peppy in the CDF headquarters, as the hare talked to him. It was time for him to find a means of employment. And he had a few options.

Leers had requested that he be allowed to run for the 48th commando program, practically any branch of the CDF was open to him. The soldier had expressed that he did not want to change professions; he was a warrior through and through. And while he may no longer have a race of his own to fight for, he was willing to work with the best alternative.

Peppy smiled at that. "I appreciate the sentiment and enthusiasm, and I think that I may just have the perfect solution." The old hare turned from the window and looked directly at the human. "You see, I used to be a member of the Starfox team, but I was getting old and Corneria needed a replacement military leader that was reliable. Now Fox is down a man. You see where I am getting at here Alex?"

The soldier nodded, somewhat comprehending.

"Good, I was wondering, if you would ask to join his team. Fox could use the experienced help, and god knows you have a hell of a lot of experience. And I also think that he would be happy to have you, as would a certain vixen." Peppy chuckled.

"We're just friends' sir, that's all." Alex denied, although his face began to slowly turn a deep shade of crimson.

"Oh I'm sure you are." The hare continued to chuckle. "But either way, I think that this would be the best solution for you. I think it would do you and the others good." Peppy's expression turned serious and he placed a comforting paw on the soldier's shoulder. "You need to learn how to live again son. Remember that there is more to life than just living one more day."

Alex grimaced but nodded. "I get you sir. I'll ask Fox. Perhaps you're right, there is something left for me, even after I lost it all." He smiled as he looked to the hare. "Thank you sir…" He wrapped the hare in a surprising hug. "You remind me of my father, he was a great man."

Peppy smiled warmly and pulled away. "I am honored that you would think of me as so. Now go, tell Fox the news, I'm sure he and the others would be delighted."

Alex backed up and saluted with a beaming smile. "Of course sir right away sir!"

The hare chuckled and saluted before opening the door and motioning for him to walk out. "Just go out there and tell them."

Alex nodded and exited, giving the General one final salute.

He turned from the closed door and walked down the hallway. As he progressed, the cornerians that passed him all waved and greeted him with a cheerful hello, and good-afternoon. He had been here often in the past few days and most of the staff knew him by name. He was somewhat of a minor celebrity now, and he didn't like that one bit.

In response he timidly smiled back and returned the gesture. The man was still a little wary around strangers. He was not used to people walking up happily, not since he had been fifteen.

Thankfully his meager waves seemed to appease them and so they continued on with their daily routine.

Alex entered an elevator and let it take him down to the lobby, it opened and he stepped out, immediately spying his friends waiting for him by the door. He quickly closed the distance to the familiarity he had associated with them. He was far more comfortable when they were around.

"Hey Alex, what did Peppy have to say?" Slippy inquired excitedly. All the others were quite, equally curious.

"He said that there were several positions available for me in the CDF defense force, and 48th commando division." He informed his friends.

Falco whistled. "Color me impressed man, very few are accepted into their ranks."

Fox and Krystal frowned. "Does that mean you're leaving?" Fox asked, and the cerulean vixen behind him was watching the human with a very worried expression.

Krystal had grown quite attached to Alex, and she felt an odd sense of fear at the thought of him going off and away from her. She began to pick at her clothes and her tail swayed to and fro with obvious anxiety.

"Not exactly, he also suggested another position I could take."

"And what's that?" The vulpine asked.

"Well, he said that this team was down one member and that I should ask you if I could fill that slot. That is if you'll have me?" The human asked, fiddling with his hands and looking up to Fox, showing a surprising amount of worry that he would be rejected.

At that Fox chuckled happily. From what he had seen, Alex was an excellent soldier, and what else, he was his friend. If anyone could join his team it would be him. Besides, he had been ready to ask him anyways, they could use someone that knew their way around a battlefield. "If I'll have you….? Alex, we would love to have you!"

"Yeah, we sure would!" Slippy added with his usual excitability.

"I think that you could be a good team member." Falco muttered. That was high praise from the avian.

All Krystal did was smile widely at him, finding that she was unbelievable giddy at the thought that he would become a permanent fixture in her life.

Alex sighed in relief. "That's great; I hoped you would say yes."

Fox walked beside him and placed a paw on his shoulder, leading him out of the building. "Without a doubt my friend…without a doubt."

Krystal strolled beside the human, her muzzle lifted into a happy grin. She never noticed that her tail had slunk over to wrap around his left arm.

Alex looked down in surprise and kept his mouth shut, instead smiling as he walked out of the building. The massive wave of positive feelings that showered over him did wonders to banish the inner darkness that still festered inside him. He had placed a foot onto the path of emotional healing, and with their help, he would soon become a frequent traveler.


	6. Chapter 6

Shattered: Redux

Chapter VI: New Friends

_Every new friend is a new adventure….the start of more memories..._

_-Patrick Lindsay_

With a satisfied grunt, Alex leveraged the metallic panel back onto the hull and sealed it with the plasma torch he had in his RIG storage banks. As the glowing steel cooled, he turned away to look out into space, sighing in the way one does when they had just finished a particularly rewarding and difficult task and they could now look at their work with a pleased grin.

It was third day aboard the carrier that housed the team. He was told that it was a temp job, until the Great Fox was fixed. They also told him that it needed a lot of work.

They were underestimating the problem.

He didn't know the first thing about these cornerian ships, but he did now that this one was on its last leg. He had spent a majority of his time aboard the ark as an engineer, as many were in short supply and they needed to train as many able bodied hands as they could in keeping the ship running.

And so in the three and half years before the fall of the ark, he had learned quite a bit in that trade. And with Slippy's help, he was beginning to understand what it was that made these ships tick.

Since his addition to the crew, the ship had almost instantly begun to turn from a pile of scrap into a hunk of junk. It was extremely slow work, especially since there were only two people in the team that new a lick about engineering. And since he had the best EVA equipment, the jobs had been split in two.

He would handle the exterior modifications and maintenance, and Slippy would do his best to get the inner mechanisms on par with what a ship of this class should have. They both had been working almost nonstop for the past three days and it showed. Most of the surface repairs had been complete on the inside, and several missing panels on the hull had been replaced. Lights were swapped, paneling was fixed, holes patched, wires stripped and replaced, and they even managed to tweak the drive core for some much needed calibrations.

But there were still countless tasks to complete. The ship was far from a shining example of naval pride that it could be.

Alex turned from the newly fixed panel and looked to his wrist, checking his air supply. The suit had a little bit less than an hour left before he had to head back in so he began to traverse the outer hull, walking along a predetermined path that would take him to his next objective.

Space was silent, so he filled his helm with ancient music, from the far back in humanities past. The old music was nice, and helped to pass the time as he worked. There was not much else to do when out on the hull, and it helped to prevent the ever crushing weight of boredom, or worse…his memories. They always seemed to find him when he was alone or when there was nothing going on. That was actually one of the main reasons he threw himself into his work with such dedication, the harder he worked, the farther off the memories lay. As he began the process of repairing another panel, listing to the soft orchestral work of a renowned German composer, he caught two small lights in his peripherals, shining bright in the backdrop of space.

He turned his head and watched as the lights soon morphed into ships, a small pair that looked a lot like arwings, with a few differenced in their structure. He knew that everyone was in the ship, so he had no idea who they were. The two ships flew into the carrier's hanger and disappeared. His curiosity was peaked, but he wanted to get the repairs done first, after the oxygen went down he would make his way back and find out. With a shrug, he focused back on the panel, grabbing his plasma torch and getting back to work. Whatever this was about, he was certain Fox could handle it.

* * *

A pair of boots thudded to the floor and the owner turned to the other ship parked beside her own and shouted impatiently. "Come on Fay, what's taking ya?"

"I'm coming I'm coming!" The other women hollered as she tugged herself out of her ship without nearly as much grace as her friend. "Just give me a second!"

"I knew that only one person would be as audacious to just fly into someone else's ship without calling first." A voice muttered in exasperation from behind the woman. "Miyu Lynx."

The identified feline twirled around to face the voice and flashed a sultry smile. "Feather brains! It's great ta see ya!" She drawled as she scratched at an ear absently with a paw.

Miyu was wearing a baggy green and red outfit with an equally baggy bleached jacket. There was a large golden hoop in her ear and she had a few other pieces of jewelry dotted onto her person.

Falco scoffed and crossed his arms at the use of her old teasing nickname and looked over the feline's shoulder. "And it looks like you dragged Fay along as well, poor girl, traveling with a crazy woman."

Miyu smiled beatifically at Falco. "You know me too well!"

"She told me that we were invited." Fay countered as she finally made her way over to the other two.

Fay Spaniel was a snowy white canine and the antithesis of her friend. Where Miyu was tomboyish and aggressive, she was soft spoken and the epitome of feminine etiquette. Fay almost always wore the same style of clothing, a red and white jumpsuit with a pair of goggles strapped to her head, and a pink bow atop that. She was also one hell of a mechanic, much like Slippy and now Alex.

"Yeah, she does tend to lie, a lot." Falco grumbled. "Whatever, I suppose you wanna see Fox yeah?"

"You got it in one bird brain!" Miyu yowled, slapping him on the back playfully.

Falco just growled and turned, leading the pair to Fox, who was someone on the bridge. As they walked along the hallways, Miyu tried to make small talk. 'So, Fay and I were back on Zoness doing some easy work when we heard about this alien debacle. Tell me Falcy, is it true? Are there aliens among us?" She asked, leaning against him with a grin.

"Yep, it's true." The avian replied simply, taking satisfaction in her dumbfounded expression.

"Really, there are aliens?" Fay said excitedly; tail wagging along with her in sync with the female canine's delight. "I always wanted to meet an alien! How many arms do they have? Do they have eyes?" She gasped in wonder. "Do they have legs?"

Falco chuckled at the canine's exuberant reaction. "You'll figure out for yourself soon enough."

Meanwhile, Miyu was taking in the state of the carrier; it was looking leagues better than it had been last they visited. "Wow, looks like Slippy's been on his game recently. How did he get so much work done?"

Falco opened the elevator and the trio walked inside and the doors closed, taking them to the bridge. "It's not just Slippy; the new guy we hired is pretty good at repairs too. In fact he's doing some EVA work right now. He should be back any minute."

"You guys got a new hire?" Miyu asked in surprise. "Who does Fox think is good enough to take Peppy's place? Did Bill quit the CDF?"

Falco shook his head. "Nah, you could say that this guy made quite an entrance and earned his way aboard. He's pretty hardcore, even by my standards."

"That's pretty high praise from you Falco. He must be a real stud. I can't wait to meet him!" Miyu said expectantly, salaciously licking her black lips and meowing.

Falco chuckled at that. "Well, he certainly is exotic. I doubt you've seen a man like him before."

Fay just ruefully shook her head at her friend's antics, she had gotten used to the feline's rather forwards ways a long time ago. So it didn't really come as a surprise. Instead she was still focused on the big picture. "So, where are these aliens now? The ship is gone and we haven't seen the news since the story first aired."

The avian actually frowned at that. "It's complicated. And I think that there's someone else who could do a better job of explaining it."

The elevator door opened and the trio stepped out onto the bridge.

Fox was standing by the viewport, staring at the stars with a paw propped on his muzzle, making him look rather dramatic. Behind him Krystal sat at one of the chairs and was doing something on the monitor.

Upon seeing Krystal, Fay squealed excitedly and ran over to her, startling Fox and making the vulpine jolt as his fur puffed out.

Krystal slowly looked up from the screen and smiled. "Fay!" She said happily, standing up to hug her friend. The two soon descended into an incomprehensible speech pattern of two girls reuniting after a long time.

Fay and Krystal had become close friends almost as soon as they had met for the first time. Miyu had more control over herself and so she didn't run over in the same way. But she did wave and smile, happy to see her friend as well.

Instead, she walked over to Fox and shook his paw vigorously. "Long time no see Mccloud."

He smiled back at her. "Looks like you show up whenever you want to…as usual eh Miyu?"

"Oh you know how it is, when I want to see my friends I just go." She replied with a husky chuckle.

"Oh, I think I know." He chuckled back, shaking his head mirthfully.

'So, where's Slip? And what's this I hear about a new guy on your team? He even has Falco's respect! I just have to meet him!" She said excitedly, eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"Slippy's down in the engine room, fiddling with things and trying to get this ship in shape and as for the new guy, he's outside if you want to see him." Fox then brought his communicator up to his muzzle and spoke into it. "Hey Alex, call it quits for the day and swing by the bridge. There's an interesting pair I want you to meet."

"Got it Fox I'll head over right now." A soft but strong male voice answered shortly before disconnecting.

'So Fox, where did you find this guy?" Miyu inquired curiously.

"He was a….interesting addition to the team. I've only known him for a few weeks, but he's already a great friend, although he is a little different, and he can be a little timid around strangers." Fox added.

Miyu contemplated that for a few minutes as she and the others waited for Alex to arrive. She watched as Fay and Krystal talked to each other happily, yapping away about everything from clothes to the newest advances in firearms.

Ten minutes later, the bridge door opened and a tall figure ducked in. He had broad shoulders and his armor conformed to his physique in a way that Miyu approved of. He was clad head to toe in a suit of segmented black and blue armor of overlapping plates with a strange helmet design. Instead of the blank faceplates that most armor tended to have here in Lylat, it instead was separated into four V-like slits that glowed with an easy blue light. The feline also noticed that the boots were large, almost entirely encased in metal, and she similarly did not see a tail peeking out behind him.

The man entered the bridge and thudded to a stop beside Fox, the vulpine was around 5'10 and this guy was easily almost a foot taller.

"There you are Alex, meet Miyu Lynx and Fay Spaniel. They are old friends of mine." Fox informed the large man, gesturing to the fascinated pair.

Fay, who had been talking with Krystal, stood up and walked over, staring at him in surprise. He must have been quite a bit different then what she had been expecting.

The man inclined his helmet. "Hello."

"Hiya there big guy, woo wee! They grow you big from where you come from!?" Miyu yowled with a chuckle as she took in his height and build.

"They did." He replied, with a hint of sadness that startled her.

"What, what did I say?" She asked in confusion, looking to Fox.

At that Fox stepped in. "Perhaps full introductions are necessary. This is Alexander Jäger, and he is one of the alien from the news."

As the vulpine said that, the man's helmet hissed as air filtered out and the soft clatter of armored plates resonated as the helmet split apart into pieces and folded back into the suit. Miyu and Fay stared in wonder at his face.

The man had a pale flat and broad face with a square jaw and a deep scar that ran across the left side of his face and looked relatively fresh. He had startling golden eyes much like Miyu's and a thin cut of fur on his head with some residing on the rough landscape of his cheeks. All in all, he was indeed exotic as Falco had promised.

"I think you have some explaining to do." Miyu mumbled, turning to Fox with a raised eyebrow.

Fox told the story, leaving out the necromorphs at a swift negative shake of Alex's head. They were gone and he wanted to keep it that way. They didn't deserve to be remembered, it was best that those horrible creature would fade into galactic ambiguity. Seeing the denial, Fox quickly switched to the official news story.

Once the tale had been concluded, the vulpine sighed. "And that's the whole story. The Prime Minister allowed him to live in our society and Peppy offered him his old position."

Miyu and Fay nodded, looking to the human.

"Sorry about you people." The puffy white canine said sympathetically.

"As am I…" He responded. "And I will carry that weight for the rest of my life. But that's my problem." The man said with a lighthearted chuckle in an attempt to make light of the situation. "So don't bother yourselves with trying to carry it as well."

Miyu smiled at that. For someone who had lost everything, he was doing a pretty nice job of keeping it together. She could respect the amount of inner fortitude that must take. "So, all that sad stuff aside, how is life treating you now?"

Alex grinned, thankful that the topic had changed. "I will say it is actually an improvement from before. And while it hasn't exactly been a walk in the park but it is better than where I was heading."

"That's good then!" Fay said cheerfully.

"I suppose it is. Now if you would excuse me, I have to go talk to Slippy. It has been a pleasure meeting you both." Alex ducked his head in farewell and was quick to depart the bridge.

Miyu watched him go and looked at Fox with a confused muzzle. The human had been quiet for the entirety of the explanation, and had only said a few words before leaving.

"He is a little quiet around strangers, but once he warms up to you he can be a fun guy." The vulpine explained.

Miyu bobbed her head in understanding. "And what about…." She mimed the fresh scar with a paw.

"That is a story that he rather keep to himself. And I'll respect that wish. If you want to know you can ask him, but I think I know what his response will be."

It seemed like there was more to that wound then was being told. But Miyu let it go for now, she could ask later.

"So, what brings you back here? Last I heard you found steady work on Zoness." Fox inquired interestedly.

Miyu shrugged. "Well, I actually thought that you might want to help Fay and I with something." At the sound of her name, Fay's floppy ears perked up and she looked over from her conversation with Falco and Krystal.

"Are you talking about the job?"

"Yeah, we were wondering if you would be interested in a lucrative partnership. Some concerned big spenders on Zoness are looking for some mercs to help keep the venomian remnant in line. The local force of the Cornerian Army is overworked and could use the help."

"What would we need to do?" Falco jumped in.

"Some of the outposts in the system have been hijacked by venomians, and they have a few cruisers. Not enough to pose a major threat, but enough to make it too costly to remove them in the conventional fashion." The lynx replied.

"Sounds like an easy job." The avian muttered. "What's the catch?"

"There's no catch." Fay answered. "We just need the extra help. And we know that with you guys, it would be an easy job."

"I think it would be nice to work together again." Krystal said with a smile. "It has been quite some time."

"So Fox, what do ya say, for old time sakes eh?" Miyu said excitedly, nudging the vulpine.

Fox chuckled. "I suppose we could lend a hand. There's nothing else going on here anyways."

Miyu whooped, raising a paw as her tail began to pace behind her happily. "Yeah, the gangs back together!" She turned and high fived Fay, black and pink padded paws colliding. "This'll be great!'

Fox and the others smiled at their antics. It had been a while since Miyu and Fay went solo. And it would be nice to have them back around again. It would have been just like old times if it weren't for the fact that Peppy was no longer there. But with Alex, perhaps they could all make some new memories.

* * *

"They seem nice enough Slip. Yet I'm not sure if they'll like me." Alex replied as he lifted a large rectangular section of steel with his enhanced strength so that the toad could go underneath and fiddle with a brace of wires.

The man had retreated from the two new people and went down to help and talk with Slippy. They had become each other's sound boards over the course of his stay, voicing their worries and thoughts as they worked. So far it had helped the human get more comfortable with his situation, and the toad now had someone to share his gripes with.

"Of course they'll like you. You're a cool guy!" Slippy's voice retorted, muffled by his location under the steel.

Alex sighed. He was worried that they would think he was weird because he looked different and that he was quiet. But maybe he was just overthinking things. "Oh yeah, how exactly am I a _cool guy_?" The man asked.

Slippy finished plugging the wires back into the system and crawled out from under the large segment of deck plating as the human lowered it back down. "Well for starters, you can fix just about anything and you make a mean chilidog." The toad reasoned, patting his belly in testament to that fact.

Alex chuckled and grinned. "That doesn't qualify me as an awesome guy. It just means that I can fix a ship and a meal."

Slippy laughed and then smirked, pointing an oil-stained finger at the human. "See, you can also be pretty funny."

"I would hardly call that hilarious." Alex refuted grumpily as he began to fiddle with a console near the center of the engine room. As he ran a diagnostic on the drive he shifted his helmetless head to look back at Slippy.

The amphibian huffed, disgruntled by his friends self-deprecating demeanor. "Stop being such a downer Alex. If they can get along with me, a short stumpy toad that's better at fixing a machine then holding a conversation. Then I'm sure they could stand a tall brawny alien with a penchant for helping people."

"Don't beat yourself up now Slippy. I think that you can take a lesson out of your own book." Alex suggested as he finished up the diagnostic, all systems in the green. "There's more to a person then what they look like. It's about what's in here." He rapped a gauntlet on his armored chest loudly, just above the heart. "Looks won't get you anywhere if you care more about them than what's on the inside."

"See!" Slippy said in satisfaction. "That's what I'm talking about!"

At that Alex backtracked and then smiled. "You got me there Slippy, I guess you are right."

The toad beamed in vindication. "Ha! Someone finally appreciates my genius!"

That outburst triggered a chuckle out of the human, and soon both were laughing mirthfully as they finished up in the engine room.

"Now, let's get out of here. You owe me a few of those chilidogs." Slippy said as he wiped his webbed hands with a rag.

"Sure thing, seeing as it is what makes me a _cool guy_." Alex accepted with a smirk as he pressed a few buttons on his armor and it popped open with the familiar resonate shifting of plates. He climbed out of it, now clad only in his bodysuit, and fiddled with a device he attached to his wrist. In a few moments a set of clothing materialized in his hands.

"One day you'll tell me how that stuff works." Slippy vowed as he watched Alex retrieve his clothes. The storage technology fascinated the toad to no end. And that was not including the telekinetic devices.

"Sure Slip next chance we get to sit down and talk for a few hours I'll run the layout over with you." The human agreed as he walked out of sight and began to shift into his clothes. In short order he was dressed into a set of black clothes with a black military cap dashed onto his head. The cap and clothes were decorated in red patches with S.C.A.F. in bold black lettering with a large shadowy bird of prey clutching a golden sword in its talons.

The pair walked out of the engine room and headed towards the mess hall. The trip was long, considering that it was several decks above the core, but it was not too much of a time absorber, especially with the thought of food spurring the toad on.

Alex walked in ahead of Slippy as they entered the hall. And he saw that there were already three people there. Fox, and the feline and canine he had been introduced with.

"Hey Alex, come on and have a seat!" Miyu yowled, motioning him over. "And Slippy, how are ya doing squirt?"

Alex looked to Slippy before walking over and taking a seat next to Fox and the Lynx. Slippy took a seat next to Fay, and the canine hugged him fiercely. "Slippy! It's great to see you again!"

"Hi Fay, good to see you too!" Slippy managed to choke out from the spaniel's tight embrace. When she released him, he tediously fixed his jumpsuit and tried to gather himself and his dignity. "Nice to see you as well Miyu, I hope things have been well."

"Sure has." Miyu affirmed, grinning as she played with her tail, running a paw down its reedy brown and black spotted length. The feline then turned her attention to the human. "Looks like you and Slippy hit it up."

I suppose so." He responded quietly, a little uncomfortable at her closeness, the feline was sitting just close enough that her soft fur lightly brushed against the bare skin of his arm. It was a pleasant and yet correspondingly uncomfortable sensation.

She frowned at his introverted response. She was trying to get him to open up, but it was proving to be harder than she thought. Miyu tried to find something that they could talk about. She ran her amber eyes up and down his body. He was tall, and he had a good-looking amount of muscle, yet it was not overly apparent. She also saw a few scars on his arm that looked like they were earned in combat. The man also had a soft yet stern expression and he sat with a rigidity that could only be found in veterans. "Rifle or shotgun…?" She asked suddenly, making everyone but him look at her in confusion.

Alex on the other hand, turned to her and responded. "I prefer rifles, but you can't beat the stopping power of a shotgun. Both weapons are suited for different situations. But I use a rifle more often than a shotgun. What do you like?"

Miyu grinned triumphantly. She had found her way in! "I like rifles, but I'm not averse to getting down and dirty with a good old-fashioned scattergun."

Alex gave off a warm chuckle and looked at the lynx with a smile. "I couldn't have put it better!"

The two then began to talk about weapons, discussing the advantages and drawbacks of energy and ballistic arms. Somewhere in the conversation, Miyu moved closer to him, leaning into his side as she began to animatedly explain that a laser didn't travel as far as a bullet but with the flash boiling effect, it carried its own weight.

Alex froze at first at the contact, but let her stay where she was. It was nice to have someone that was enthusiastic about guns as he was. Falco was not exactly the most stimulating and friendly person when it came to talking.

At last Miyu's rant finally ended and she sighed wistfully. "Man, I wish that I had a slug thrower. But the last one I had fell apart a few years ago and I had to scrap it. The pistol served me well, but I just couldn't keep it together."

Alex gazed at her melancholy muzzle for a few moments before he had an idea. He reached into the holster he had strapped to his waist, pulling out a large dark black pistol and placing it on the table in front of the feline. At the sight of the weapon her eyes widened and she delicately ran a paw over the darkened steel. "That's the Azariah Securities ODIN Personal Defense Handgun. It fires .50 AE and it has built in reinforcements, allowing it to be fired by just about anybody."

Miyu grabbed the gun and lifted it up easily, looking it over with a keen eye. It was obvious that she was a respectable critic of firearms. "It's beautiful." She mumbled in awe as she moved to put it back down reluctantly with an air of longing, and Alex placed a hand on her paw, stopping her.

"Keep it." He told her with a smirk and a twinkle in his eyes.

At that her muzzle dropped open. "I couldn't." She said with a frown. "It's yours; she moved to push it back to him."

His smile persisted as he shook his head and urged her. "I insist, I have another one, besides, I think it should go to someone who appreciates it. And if you need ammo, I can make it."

Miyu stared at him hard before she smiled widely and shocked him with a solid hug, wrapping her warm fuzzy arms around his chest and nuzzling into his neck. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeated over and over again as she squeezed him tightly.

Alex awkwardly patted her back. "Sure, no problem, but you might want to put the gun down."

She pulled back and looked at him in confusion before her ears peeled back and she squeaked out an apology. She removed her paws from his back and placed the gun onto the table. It had been resting on his back, barrel pointing at his shoulder. He would rather not get shot by one of his own guns again if he could avoid it.

After that gift, they all began to talk. And this time Alex did not feel as out of place as he had before. And it seems that Miyu had changed as well. Whenever she was quiet, she would look between Alex and the gun with a low smile. Her tail also traveled from her side to his lap where it bounced playfully.

Alex found that Fay was also a person of mechanical expertise, and he found that he, she, and Slippy had formed an engineering trifecta that baffled Fox and Miyu. After a rather enlightening discussion on mechanics and metallurgy Fox cried out.

"Alright enough spare me please! This is nice and all, but let's talk about something that Miyu and I can follow okay."

The trio nodded and postponed their conversation.

"So Alex…" Fay began as she shifted her muzzle to the human. "What was life like where you lived?"

Alex took a minute to answer. "Well, to be honest. I don't remember much, or at least the good things."

"What was your family like?"

"I…..can't recall." He said with a frown. "I remember that I had a mother and father, and sisters. But beyond that it gets a little hazy. When I was fifteen years old, something happened and it all becomes a jumbled mess of memories." There was truth to his lie. Everything was hard to remember in the early years of the war, but he did remember his family. Yet he refrained from telling them, as it would be too much to dredge back up anything about them.

He rather not get flashbacks, it took him years to come to terms with what happened on Charon IV. And he still suffered from night terrors.

"Oh, I'm sorry for bringing it up." Fay apologized.

Alex brushed it off as well as he could. "It's alright. I try to not let it bother."

Miyu rested a paw on his shoulder. "How about we actually get something to eat huh?" She suggested, changing gears.

"That sounds like a good plan to me." Fox said, his stomach grumbling in agreement.


	7. Chapter 7

Shattered: Redux

Chapter VII: Old Problems

_Some things, no matter how strange, never change…_

_-Anonymous_

Krystal lay sprawled on her bed, twiddling the time away with a short story on her tablet, seeing as she had little else to do. Usually, she would spend her time meditating or talking with Alex, but he was either busy fixing the ship up with Fay and Slippy, or at the armory teaching Miyu how to fire the gun he gave her.

Krystal wasn't meditating because, for the last few days, whenever she did she kept having terrible visions. They mostly were of some great calamity that would befall Lylat. But she could not, no matter how hard she tried, decipher what it was. The vixen decided to keep her concerns top herself for now until she had a better understanding. It would not do to worry her friends when she didn't have any concrete evidence.

With a sigh, she placed a black padded thumb on the bottom of the tablet and shut it off. Krystal placed it on the stand beside her bed and sat up, stretching with a wide yawn. She climbed off her bed and flicked her tail absently as she finished stretching. '_I'll just go find Alex_.' She decided.

Krystal dressed herself in a casual affair of blue jeans and a black shirt. She slid on a pair of sandals and slipped out of her room. The cerulean vixen took a left, thinking that Alex would be somewhere around the engine room or perhaps the armory.

She waited in front of the lift and was surprised to see Fox on it when it opened. The orange furred vulpine had been preoccupied with something on his communicator when he looked up and spotted Krystal in front of him.

"Hey Krys, what's going on?" He asked as he turned off his device and lowered his arm.

"I was going to look for Alex; it has been a few days since we last had a lengthy conversation." She responded as she stepped inside.

Fox nodded in comprehension as he made room for her. "Yeah, there's a lot of stuff to do if we want this ship in good shape for the mission. In fact I was just going over the specifics."

"Specifics…?"

The vulpine nodded again. "Yep, looks like this'll be a pretty routine op, but there's a little snag. The outposts are shielded from a conventional air strike, which means that someone'll have to go in from the ground and knock out the generators powering them."

The elevator hummed as it began its descent.

"That sounds like it could be an issue." Krystal mumbled thoughtfully. "Who is going to be doing that?"

Fox shrugged. "I thought it would be fair to put it up to a vote."

Krystal inclined her muzzle in agreement. "That would be the wisest course of action."

Both vulpines stepped out of the elevator and into the loud sounds of engineering. The deck they were on was probably one of the last ones in need of serious repairs. It was on the lower levels, just above the engine core. This floor contained the ships armory and several storage rooms. Currently, there were four team members on it.

Fox and Krystal followed the noises and arrived at the armory. Inside, Slippy, Fay, Alex, and Miyu were spread around. Slippy was tinkering with a console on the left side of the small shooting range attacked to the main arsenal and Fay was near him, holding a small rectangular device that was plugged into the console. Both of them looked to be hard at work.

Alex, was sitting at a large bench that was crammed with a wide assortment of strange tools and equipment that neither Fox or Krystal had seen before. Sitting amid the clutter was a hilt of the human's sword, his pulse rifle, and a pair of black handguns. Alex was at present using two of the foreign tools on one of the pistols.

Miyu was standing next to him with a paw draped on his shoulder as she leaned forwards. Her tail swung idly as and her ears were perked towards Alex as she listened to him talk.

"Now the ODIN is a semi-automatic handgun, as I have no doubt you understand by now. But, it can also be switched to full-auto. Although I would not advice that unless you have more experience with the gun. ON full-auto, most of the kickback is not reduced, so your aim is going to be thrown off and that will affect your accuracy. What I would suggest…" As he lectured the feline, pointing out things as he disassembled the pistol, Miyu listened with rapt attention, nodding her muzzle or humming in agreement to whatever it was he said.

At some point in the instruction, he turned his head and noticed that both Krystal and Fox were there. "Alright Miyu, we'll pick this up later." He said as he quickly reassembled the gun and placed it on the bench. Then he stood up and headed over to them. "Hey guys, what brings you down?"

Fox was the first one to speak. "We all need to go over the upcoming mission, which is happening tomorrow so it's best we be prepared."

Alex nodded. "Sure thing Fox, that's a good idea. Did you come for the same reason?" He asked, shifting his golden eyes to Krystal.

"No, I was hoping to talk with you, as we have not had our daily discussion in quite a while." The vixen explained, making the human frown.

"I'm sorry about that Krystal, but things have been pretty busy as of late. This ship still needs quite a bit of work, but I think I could put that on hold for the rest of the day and we can chat after Fox does his thing. I've been missing out talks."

Krystal's maw curled into a delighted smile at the promise. "That's sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to it."

"I am as well Krystal" Alex responded with a likening grin.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Whatever, you guys can confess your love later, for now let's just get this show on the road."

Krystal blushed brightly at the insinuation, taking a peek at Alex for his reaction. The man looked to Fox before he smiled and chuckled. "Alright then Fox, we'll take a rain-check on it."

Fox nodded with a grin as well and ushered the team together, out of the armory and into the ops center, calling in Falco from his room. The avian took quite a bit of time before he finally arrived. "What's going on?" He demanded as he stepped inside.

"We're all here to get you to come out of the closet. You don't have to hide yourself around us Falcy." Miyu responded, eliciting a chuckle out of the group at the avian's expense.

"I'm not in the closet!" Falco squawked feistily.

"All right, all right, we can deal with Falco's problem later." Fox said, shifting topics. Although he did smile and look to his friend who was now fuming. "But for now let's get down to business." The vulpine stood in front of the room and began to speak.

"Now, this mission is going to be a big one. It is going to take a series of strike over the course of a few days before we will have successfully weeded the venomian remnants out of the Zoness quadrant. They are dug in deep on the fringes, having taken over many outposts on the outer lying smaller planetoids. Combine that with the small fleet they slipped in past the cornerian army, and we have a serious problem."

Fox folded his orange furred arms behind his back and cleared his throat. "Each outpost has a two part defense arrangement. There is an automated anti-aircraft system installed in the base's ops room. And there is a shield generator hidden in the compound near the east wall. We have free rain for this assignment, which means that the army doesn't care if the base is intact or not. They just want the venomians ousted."

Falco's beak twisted into a smile. "I love it when we get to blow stuff up."

"Slow down there Falco." Fox said with a chuckle. "First we have to either disable or destroy the AA's and the generator. With those still functioning we won't be able to even touch the base."

"So how are we going to destroy it?" Miyu inquired with a puzzled frown.

"Well…" Fox began with a sigh. "Someone is going to have to go in on foot and take them out."

Slippy shook his head. "But there must be at least two dozen or so venomians. How can anyone get in and take out the defenses?"

"They'll just have to find a way. That's the only way we can get this done. And since the venomians have access to fighters and ships, we can't all just go down there. Besides, we do have the landmaster." Fox added.

"Actually…." Slippy said with a nervous chuckle, scratching his scalp. "I haven't fixed it yet."

"What….why?" Fox asked in wonder.

"Since we have been working on the ship, I decided to put that on hold. I thought we wouldn't need it for at least a while." Slippy defended himself.

Fox groaned and dragged a paw down his muzzle. "That…complicates things a little bit. Whoever goes down there won't have any armor. And until the defenses are down, they'll be on their own."

He was worried. Whoever did it would be outnumbered and outgunned. With the landmaster things would have become a little more even. But with that out of order, it would be that much harder to win. The hardest part would be putting up the vote and seeing who would have to go.

"I can do it Fox, I'll go in on foot." Alex suddenly jumped in with a determined expression.

"Are you sure Alex?" Fox asked in surprise.

"It makes sense, Fox. I don't have any training with the arwings yet, and I have the most experience with infantry fighting. Not to mention it would be a walk in the park compared to my last tumble." The human explained with a slight chuckle.

Fox had to admit he had a point. He was the best suited for the mission, his armor was stronger than anything corneria was fielding at the moment; he had experience as a commando, and he plenty of grit to see him through. "Alright then Alex, it's yours. We'll keep any enemy aircraft off you and you knock those systems out."

"Wait, he can't go by himself. Shouldn't at least one of us go in as back up?" Krystal interjected with a concerned tone.

"I don't know Krys, we'll need all the help we can get to get rid of those ships." Fox replied.

'I'll be fine Krystal, nothing I can't handle." Alex reassured her. "I'll be in and out in a flash."

The vixen still had apprehension plastered on her muzzle, but she didn't voice any more complaints.

With that done, Fox got down to the rest of the meeting, emphasizing everyone's task and making sure that they all knew what they were going to do.

An hour later, the briefing was over and Fox dismissed everyone until tomorrow. As they all left the room, Krystal quickly moved to walk alongside Alex. The vixen looked up at his face, her muzzle still having worry decorating it. "I don't like this Alex. What if you get hurt and no one can reach you?"

The human tilted his head down to look at her, not a shred of unease apparent. "That won't happen Krystal; I'll be fine, really. Don't let it bother you, how about we talk instead? As I recall we need to do a little bit of catching up." Alex put an arm around her, attempting to make her feel at ease.

Krystal reluctantly nodded and tried to let her anxiety fade. He was right, it should be easy for him, and worrying would only sidetrack her during the mission. So she decided to strike up conversation, picking up where she had last left off in her tale.

* * *

Alex finished loading the fresh batch of pulse rounds into the cylindrical magazine, placing it on a stack of them beside his work area on the bench. Silently, he began to repeat the process, packing another clip with new recently created munitions. It was slow work, but it was also the only way he could keep his gun running. There was no manufacturer of pulse rounds here, so he had to make them himself.

With a click, he packed the last round into the coiled mag and snapped it closed. After a few hours of industriousness he now had fifteen fully loaded magazines. That should be more than sufficient to keep him supplied for however long the mission might be.

Alex stood up from the table and swiped his gantlet over the stack of mags, collecting them in his storage bank so that he could retrieve them at a moment's notice on the field. The man walked away from the table and began to head down to the hanger to find the rest of the team. As he made his way, he had a strange thought.

This would be a fight against something besides a necromorph. He had been fighting them for so long that he had considered it normal, almost as regular as breathing. But now he would be going up against intelligent beings, equipped with weapons and armor. Alex just hoped that his experience hadn't faded with time.

He stowed that thought away for the moment as he stepped into the large hanger. He crossed the long deck to the six fighters lying on the far side. The others were already setting up and getting ready to depart.

Alex was quick to join them.

"You ready to go?" Fox inquired as he fixed his flight suit and strapped his blaster to his thigh.

"Ready and raring Fox, time to see if I still got it." Alex replied, grabbing the vulpines forearm as Fox did the same.

Fox smiled roguishly. "You better hope you got it, I'd hate to have to bail you out on your first mission. Think of the teasing you'll get."

"Well, I guess I'll have to just roll with the punches then." Alex chuckled and talked with his friend for a few more minutes. Eventually, he let the vulpine go to finish up what he was doing, and walked to Krystal's ship. Since her Cloud Runner (an arwing variant), had two seats, she would be the one taking him down to the surface of the small habitable moon that the outpost was erected on.

He spotted her sitting on the wing of her ship, eyes closed and with a determined expression on her muzzle. He wondered it was that she was doing exactly. "Hey Krystal, what's up?" He asked.

Slowly, she opened her emerald green eyes and they narrowed in on him, and her muzzle lit up in a smile. "Nothing, just getting ready for the mission, a little meditation always helps." The vixen lithely glided of the wing and stepped over to him.

"Meditation, huh, sounds like fun." Alex rolled his eyes; he was not one for meditation. It was all about reflection and relaxing, things he didn't like doing, seeing as they brought the return of his memories.

Krystal shook her head in bemusement. "I think that you could use some. I think it would be beneficial."

"Maybe some other time, for now, how about we get this thing moving?" Alex responded, waiting for her to climb in so that he could join her. Once he was settled in, a thought came to him. "Tell you what, when this is over, I'll join you during one of your sessions."

"Is that a promise?" Krystal inquired curiously turning her muzzle to look at him with a playful gleam in her eyes.

"It's more than a promise, you have my word." Alex answered with a grin that she soon shared with him. When he saw her smiling muzzle, he couldn't help but think he would do anything to ensure that she smiled like that every day. Krystal had a beautiful smile, and it would be a waste if she didn't use it.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Fox requested over the radios that linked each fighter to the other. Alex looked out the window from his passenger seat and saw the vulpine's ship lifting slowly off the ground. It used something called G-diffusers if the human remembered correctly. It was hard to nail down all these alien terms.

"I'm always ready." Falco responded.

"Ready's my middle name!" Slippy added with a cheerful yelp.

"I thought it was Ethel?" Miyu interjected with a chuckle.

"Ah Miyu, leave poor Slip alone." Fay muttered.

"Can we go now, there's some venomians that are itching to take a shot at yours truly." Alex said with a small chortle.

Moments later, he felt a tail bop him right on the nose. "That is hardly something to joke about." Krystal admonished, although he swore he could see her smiling from his seat behind her.

"Cut the chatter guys, let's get serious. This'll be the first real assignment we've done in a long time. I want everyone on the top of their game today. We are all coming back alive." Fox eased into their banter with a firm tone.

"Alright Fox, we'll keep it nice and tidy." Miyu promised, but she was had her paw's digits twisted.

With that assurance the vulpine sighed. "I'm sure you will Miyu, now let's go." With that being said the six arwings rocketed out of the somewhat refurbished carrier and into the depths of space."

* * *

The start of the flight was relatively boring, time that Alex spent chatting with Krystal and the others on the comms. It was nice, and he rather enjoyed the amazing view from space. Alex had no experience with fighters, unlike his old deceased friend Santiago. The boisterous fun loving Latino had been an excellent fighter pilot before they were considered insufficient in dealing with the marker threat. So they had shoved him into a team of ground pounders and that's when Alex had met him. At first, Alex resented the man and his air of superiority that he exhibited over the '_meatshields_' as he called the soldiers. But over time, they began to respect each other and then become friends.

Alex sighed softly as he stared out into the stars. He missed Santiago, and wished that he here with him in this crazy place he now found himself. Alex looked over to Krystal, who he could see was intently staring at the instruments as she flew the ship. At least he had friends again.

Krystal picked up on the human's mood and shifter her muzzle to look back at him. "What's the matter Alex?"

"Just thinking about the past, and how things will never be the same. Not that that's a bad thing. I think I like the direction it's taking now." He replied.

The vixen nodded softly. "I understand. After my world was destroyed, I questioned how I would ever come to terms with it. Everyone I knew, all things I had come to accept as my reality, were wiped away in the blink of an eye. I was alone, scared and confused." Alex noticed that her eyes were glinting with emotion and she looked about ready to cry. But she was a strong women and she held it together. And that earned her a lot of respect in his eyes. He was still prone to breaking down every now and then. But not once had he seen her fall into despair as he was often to do when he was alone. But maybe she was like him, and that she could hide it very well. He hoped that he was wrong and that she was just stronger. Alex despised the thought of her crying.

"I think I know what you are feeling better than anyone else Krys." He said quietly, using her nickname for the first time as he stared into her gleaming eyes with his, gold to jade.

Krystal sniffed, but smiled at the familiar tone in his voice, she liked that. The vixen wiped her eyes and responded. "I know that Alex, and as terrible as it is to say, I'm glad you came here."

At that they both broke into a fit of giggles and he reached over the seat and placed a hand over her paw. They may both have been laughing, but he knew that she was still in pain, as he was. She stopped laughing at the feeling of his furless fingers intertwining with her own fuzzy blue digits, and looked at him with a faint hint of a rosy color in her cheeks.

"I will do my best to stick around; I think we could both use a good friend." He said with firm promise in his voiced, his smile morphing into a determined smirk.

Krystal found that she was choked up, and could not find words to respond. So instead she smiled back luminously and turned back to flying the ship.

The rest of the flight was spent in a comfortable silence, Krystal often looking back to him and smiling. Her tail was brushing against his knee as it twitched contently through the hole in her seat.

Alex remained smiling until he had a flashback.

* * *

_"__I love you." Sarah whispered into his ear as she planted a kiss on his cheek. Alex looked down at her and smiled. The both of them were lying on the grass of the small park aboard the ark. Alex had finished his day shift in engineering and she was done with the med-ward for the day. Sarah had suggested that they take their free time and use it at the park._

_"__I love you too Sarah, and I am surprised every day that you fell in love with some nobody like me." He said with a chuckle and kissed her on the forehead. _

_The women giggled and squeezed him tightly. "You're not some nobody, your mybody." She poked his chest with a delicate finger and planted a kiss on his lips with her ruby red ones. "And don't you forget it!"_

_Alex chuckled. "Alright, I won't. It'll be impossible anyways, what with your constant reminders and prodding._

_"__Good, you better not forget. "You're mine Alex, and I am the one who is surprised that I managed to snag a prize like you." She said, turning serious. "You keep beating yourself down Alex when you should be lifting yourself up. You are a good man, and I don't understand how you can't see it."_

_Alex frowned. "I don't know Sarah, what have I done to be called a good man?" He sat up from her, staring at all the people traversing the park, without a care in the world. It had only been a few months since they escaped the necromorphs and their all-consuming terror, and he prayed every day that they would never be found. _

_"__For starters, you saved my life back on Scippio II. I would have been one of those slavering monsters if you hadn't disobeyed orders and come for me and the children." She argued, sitting up alongside him and placing a pale and slim hand on his own, intertwining her fingers with his. _

_Alex scoffed. "Anyone would have done that."_

_She shook her head determinedly. "No, they wouldn't have Alex; they would have boarded that gunship and left us to our fate. But you didn't, you risked your life and your rank for us. And they took one of those. I think that makes you more than a good man, it makes you a great one." Sarah planted a kiss on his cheek, leaving a rosy pink mark on his cheek. "Now, let's talk about something different. What do you want to do for dinner?"_

_Alex decided to let it go for now, helping Sarah up from the blanket and beginning to pack up. "How about we do Chinese?" He inquired hopefully._

_Sarah giggled as she helped him. "We got that yesterday." _

_"__Yeah well you can never have too much of a good thing." He responded, sweeping her up in his arms and running down the hill with her, Sarah giggling the entire way down._

_Once he had reached the bottom, panting from the exertion. She looked up and smiled. "I thought that the saying was you can have too much of a good thing."_

_Alex shrugged. "Fine, you win, we'll get Italian. I know that the Angelo's are always happy to see you. _

_"__Yay Italian!" Sarah squealed excitedly. "Come on, move it soldier, your commanding officer is hungry._

_"__Right away, on your orders Ma'am!" He chuckled as he began to jog off to the food district, the sound of her laughing ringing through his ears._

* * *

As the giggling echoes in his mind began to fade Alex could feel tears silently treading down his face, emotional stricken by the flashback. The human quickly ducked his head, not wanting Krystal to see him like this.

But the telepathic vixen easily picked up on his tormented mind. But instead of asking him about it, she let him be. The pain was so intense though, that she wondered what it was that had him so. It was in fact so strong, that she was feeling it as well, it was a terrible feeling.

It felt as if her heart had been ripped out of her chest and replaced with a blackened core of misery, despair, longing, and anguish. It was so strong, that she felt a tear leave her eye. Krystal quickly shut off her empathetic field and gave a relieved sigh.

By that time, Alex had regained his composure and wiped his eyes with his gauntlets. Both sat in silence, one awkward, and the other confused. Krystal had no idea what it was that triggered his emotional collapse. But she wanted to find out. "How are you doing back there?" She asked innocently.

She heard him clear his throat before he answered. "I'm doing great. Just a little bored is all." For all intents and purposes he sounded like he was fine. In fact it sounded genuine enough that if she didn't already know, she never would have.

Krystal decided not to press it, postponing the conversation for when he meditated with her. Besides, the mission would be starting soon as they were now closing in on the small moon. "Alright, well your boredom should be done now, we are reaching the moon." She said as she saw the tiny blue and green marble getting larger. She also spied out several objects sitting in orbit.

Seconds later Fox's voice cut in with a similar update. "Alright we're here. Krystal you know what to do. Get Alex down there and come back to us. We'll keep the venomians occupied until then."

"Okay Fox, I'll get him down." Krystal assured as she and Alex watched the five other arwings boost off into space, heading towards the venomian ships.

As Krystal guided her arwing down to the planet, she could hear the team communicating.

"Fox, I got a fighter on my tail!" Slippy warned.

"Fay, bail him out, I'm stuck with this cruiser."

"Got it Fox, I'm moving to Slippy's position now."

"Hah! Just took out three fighters, which throws me ahead of you Fox!" Falco boasted smugly.

"Oh yeah, I just got four, which jumps me ahead of you feather brain!" Miyu chuckled.

"Maybe for now Miyu, but it won't last for long!" The avian promised.

"It sounds like their having fun." Alex said with a grin. It would seem that he was fully recovered now.

"Yeah, they're always like that." Krystal said with a shrug as her Cloud Runner began to skirt a forest on the moon, nearing the drop zone. In moments she banked her fighter around a large cropping of trees and landed it behind the screen.

The canopy of the arwing variant popped open and Krystal climbed out. Alex followed her a few seconds later, jumping out and looking at the alien forest around him. None of the trees looked familiar and it was strange. He looked to Krystal. "Looks like this is my stop, wish me luck."

He was expecting a verbal wish, but instead he got more. Krystal pressed herself against him and wrapped her soft cerulean furred arms around his larger body and pressed her muzzle over his shoulder. "Good luck Alex, I-we, need you to comeback alive." She whispered into his ear. As she pulled back she pressed her black lips to his cheek and lightly deposited a kiss.

As he felt the whiskers on her muzzle brush against his cheek, a shiver crawled down his spine. Yet that wasn't the only thing, an image of Sarah flashed through his mind, and he almost involuntarily shoved Krystal back. Instead he managed to get a hold of himself, hugging her back uncertainly.

Krystal purred as she felt his arms encircle her protectively, it made her feel safe. Eventually she pulled away fully and looked up into his face. His expression made her feel a little hurt. He was smiling, but it was pained. "I promise, I'll comeback and we can meditate together."

At that her hurt dissipated somewhat. "Sounds like a good promise."

"Not a promise, a certainty." He said, hugging her again quickly before his helmet snapped on over his face. He backed up and a rifle materialized in his gauntlets. "You'll see, I'll be done in a flash."

Alex turned from her and walked into the forest, shifting back one last time to wave before vanishing into the underbrush. Krystal watched him depart and when he was gone, her tail stopped wagging and she climbed back into her cockpit.

As the fighter lifted and headed back into space, she frowned.

The cockpit felt so empty.


	8. Chapter 8

Shattered: Redux

Chapter VIII: Choices

_Making a big life change is scary. But, know what's even scarier….Regret_

_-Anonymous_

Fox banked hard to the right and rolled his arwing, deflecting the trio of red lasers back at their owner and incinerating the venomian ship, and subsequently, its pilot. "Jeez, they aren't letting up." The vulpine muttered as he rotated his fighter to reenter the combat zone.

"What gave you that idea?" Falco grumbled; Fox turned his muzzle in the cockpit to see his friend's ship intermingled inside a furball (fighter skirmish).

"It's just a thought Falco." Fox chuckled, flipping his arwing in a 180 degree ark. He pointed his nose at the red and black craft on Falco's rear, sending a quick lance of energy slamming into its engine.

The red bolts of light pierced the housing and detonated the drive, immediately enveloping the fighter in a globule of bright flame. It burst into a million molten fragments and was quickly lost in the darkness of space. "You're welcome." Fox muttered as he shifted to face the next victim.

"Yeah, yeah whatever, we'll get even." The avian promised, taking down the two ships and orientating his arwing along with Fox's.

The two of them swung around the twisted cooling hulk of a venomian cruiser and into a furball where Miyu, Fay, and Krystal were hashing it out with seven enemy contenders. The two guys felt sorry for them.

It didn't take long for them to get shot down.

Seeing that the girls had there scuffle in hand, the bird and the vulpine shifter their attention to find Slippy, and they were surprised when they found him. The toad was actually holding his own against three fighters, chasing one of them as the other two pursued.

"Huh, Slips doing better than usual." Falco commented as he and Fox closed in. "I remember when we always had to bail him out."

"Yeah he was always calling out for help. It's good to see that he's starting to take care of himself." Fox watched as the pursing fighters began to try and shoot Slippy down. "Of course….he probably still needs our help time to time."

Falco just grumbled and tilted his arwing and angled it down to come up behind Slippy and therefore his attackers. The avian watched as his red targeting circle zeroed in on one of the fighters. Falco smiled triumphantly and depressed the trigger with a feathered thumb and the nose of his arwing spewed out a thick red beam that collided with the enemy ship, spearing straight through the cockpit. The craft spun out and into space, no longer under manned control.

Falco was beginning to turn to take out the other and watched as it suddenly exploded. "I got that one." Fox said with an audible smirk.

"That was my kill!" Falco squawked in outrage, although there was a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Sorry, he flew into my shot." Fox defended.

"Whatever." Falco grunted. "I can still get the one Slippy's cha-" There was a flash of light and he turned to see the enemy ship's wreck floating in space.

"Sorry Falco, he kinda just fell into my sights." Slippy said smugly.

"Wha-I-how…." Falco stuttered.

"Looks like you're losing your mojo Falco." Fox said with a chuckle as he and Slippy floated to wing positions around the bewildered avian. "You can worry about it later Falco, for now let's rendezvous with the girls. All we have to do now…is wait."

* * *

Alex's stood on a ridge line a few hundred meters from the venomian outpost. The ridge was covered by an outline of trees that spanned all the way to the outpost, where it was cut a few yards away from it. It was a sloppy job, if they were smart; they would have kept the tree line at least a hundred yards from the walls. That way it would make it hard for people like him to find a way in. But it seemed that things were lax here, he knew that they would never have made the same mistake. Not that it mattered considering there was no one besides him left.

Alex scanned the perimeter with his HUD and he clutched his rifle firmly in his gauntlets.

The odds did not appear to be in his favor.

The compound had fifteen foot walls that encompassed its entirety. A tower sat at each junction and he could see the outlines of guards. Inside, he counted an additional ten figures walking around. The only visible entrance was situated in the front, in between two guard towers. It was easy to conclude that the gate would not be his method of entry.

Alex climbed down the ridge and paused just before he would enter sight range of the outpost. The man then began to pull his pulse rifle apart. His hands quickly began to slim it down and he slammed a scope on top of it.

With his weapon ready, he slipped into the forest and moved to stand just inside, a meter from the exit. He connected the scope's system to his HUD and took a better look at the guard towers. Each one had a single occupant. And the one closest to him looked like an ape of some sorts.

He was garbed in some sort of thin black and red armor that contoured to his body. Atop his head was a helmet with a visor that ran down to cover his eyes. He had a long and thin black rifle in his hands and he patrolled the entire circumference of the rectangular tower.

Alex crouched, using the tree he leaned against as cover. He sighted the ape in his crosshairs and waited until he was out of eyesight of the others.

The ape moved a hand to cover his face in a yawn as he stepped out to the edge of the tower.

The human pulled the trigger to his rifle once and the hyper-velocity round whispered out of the barrel and buried itself into the ape's cranium. Instantly the simian locked up and collapsed onto the grated floor of the tower.

Not stopping, Alex switched targets and took out the other guard on the side of the wall he planned on infiltrating.

When both of the venomians were dead, he swiftly sprinted across the short open expanse and thumped his back onto the wall. He pulled up another weapon from his inventory, a javelin gun. He attached a synthetic line to the gun and fired it into the tower. He tugged the line and then tugged it a few times to judge the connection's strength.

It didn't give, so he began to climb. He scaled the wall and dropped down to the other side.

The inside of the compound was all paved and there were a few roads leading to a variety of buildings. He spotted quite a few venomians walking around the yard. Thankfully, it looked like he had been undetected so far.

He stored his javelin gun and replaced it with his rifle. Fox said that the shield generator was in a building near the east wall. And from the looks of it, there was only one structure there. Alex waited until there was a break in the guard's formation and started to make his way across the compound, hugging the wall and using it as a guiding line.

Alex reached the building and looked around before slipping inside.

The interior of the structure was a single large room with a massive reactor built into the center. It glowed with a soft blue light and appeared to be in disuse, probably because the team was in orbit and they saw no need to activate it yet.

The chamber was also deserted, so that made his job easier. Alex stepped over to the console hooked up to the reactor and began to input something. He was glad that he had gained some experience with alien tech. He deftly tapped something into the computer and backed away smiling under his helmet. "I think they're going to like my little surprise."

"Hey, who the hell are you?!" A voice growled from behind him.

Alex's smile dropped and he grimaced. "Why hello there my good sir!" He said with forced cheerfulness as he turned to see the person that had found him out. It was a lizard of some breed and he was aiming a very angry looking black carbine at him. "I am merely a hired engineer, and I was told to take a look at this reactor." As he spoke, he slowly inched his way closer to the reptile, dropping his hand close to the hilt at his waist.

"Engineer, Darvin never said anything about an engineer, and you sure don't look like any gearhead I've seen before."

Alex shrugged. "Look buddy, all I know is that I was told to take a look at this hunk of junk and then I get paid."

The venomian looked uncertain now, clutching his rifle in a way that made Alex uncomfortable. "I don't know…."

"Look dude, just let me finish up here and I'll be on my marry way."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that. You're going to have to talk to Darvin. He'll sort this all out." The reptile said, moving to grab his arm.

"Well, that really is unfortunate." Alex said with a sigh.

With a hiss, he ripped the sword hilt from his belt and activated it, swinging the molten blue blade into the reptilian's side, hacking deep into steel, flesh, and bone. The lizard gave out an airless gasp and slid off the blade, and the room lit up briefly in a flash of red light as his clawed hand squeezed the trigger reactively.

Alex felt a blazing fist crash into his chest and he stumbled backwards, falling to the floor as the venomian did. He snarled in pain as he felt a lingering scorching heat directly in the center of his sternum. The man brought a gauntlet to the pained area and lightly touched it.

Instantaneously he gasped in shock and yanked his plated hand away. The fringes of his armor there were melted around the breach and he felt a very uncomfortable emptiness there. He looked to his gauntlet and saw a deep red stain on the fingertips. "This….is definitely not good…." He muttered.

Alex sat up slowly and shifted his head to his chest. "Yeah….that is absolutely not a good thing." He added a little groggily. There was a deep blackened crater in the center of his chest, and a thin stream of blood was slowly trickling down and hugging around the delineations of his armor.

This usually would not have been that big of a deal, but he was out of health packs, so there was no way of stopping the bleeding or healing it. He would just have to roll with it he supposed. Alex crawled to his feet and looked down to the dead venomian.

It looked as if he had died swiftly, the heated blade burning through vital organs and boiling them. It was not a pleasant way to die.

But who gave a fuck, that bastard shot him! "I own this now!" Alex growled, ripping the gun out of the dead reptile's claws.

He looked over the sleek black carbine carefully. It looked much like an old fashioned hunting rifle, made of some black alloy that made it lightweight and the design made it easy to hold. There was some sort of advanced scope atop it and a black magazine with a red glowing light running down the clip. All in all it was a pretty nice looking gun.

Alex stowed it away and looked over his shoulder. The RIG light on his back was dangerously depleted and the blue was tinged a dark orange. It looked like he was doing alright at the moment. But the shallow hole in his chest was quickly draining his stamina and not to mention was quite painful.

The longer he stayed the worse of he would be as time went on. It looked like his job just got a clock.

He fought through the pain and lurched out of the generator room clutching his bleeding chest. Once outside, he looked over to the building in the center of the compound and his next objective. There was just a tiny itssy bitsy little problem…

Standing between him and his mission were at least fifteen of these venomian bastards. And they all were aware of him. But at that moment he didn't really care.

"You know what, fuck this shit." Alex muttered as he angled the barrel of his pulse rifle up and launched a grenade from the underbarrel.

* * *

Fox and the others cleared up the rest of the venomian presence in orbit and regrouped, flying down to the planet and just out of range of the base's AA defenses. All they had to do now was sit in their arwings and wait for a communication from Alex.

"What's taking him so long?" Krystal inquired worriedly.

"Relax Krys, he'll get it done." Fox answered with confidence he did not completely possess. Although he was a little concerned as well, they had heard nothing from him since he started his mission.

"You'll see, he'll be done in no time." Slippy assured.

As if he heard them, Alex's voice came in over the comms, although there was a distressing amount of weapons fire over the waves. 'Hey Fox, how about that support huh? I sabotaged the shields and knocked out the AA system, but I also gathered quite a bit of a following, and they all would like my head. Some backup would be really welcome and appreciated about now."

Even as he began to speak, Krystal's fighter rocketed towards the base, the pilot eager to come to her friend's rescue. The vixen's eyes uncovered the human's predicament.

He was stuck inside a building at the center of the compound, and trading fire with a dozen very disgruntled venomians, there were a few bodies that lay unmoving as well. All she saw was his upper torso as he poked out of the window and tried to keep the enemy away from him.

Krystal was surprised at the amount of anger that manifested inside her at the sight him in danger. The thought of the venomians trying to kill him enraged her beyond the point of reason. She pushed her stick down and her fighter angled down in synchronous.

She vehemently squeezed the trigger and sent a steady barrage of lasers down and peppered the ground around them. A sizeable portion of the enemy was taken out in the fusillade, and the rest were quick to try and get away, but she never even let them have the chance.

By the time the others arrived, the venomians had been…taken care of in the entirety, and Krystal was already landing her ship. The vixen jumped out and ran over to the building as the human walked out.

"Hey Krys, thanks for the assist, things were getting a little crazy down here." He chuckled a little airily, stumbling slightly.

Her pace picked up at that and she ran into him and gave him a fierce hug, burrowing her muzzle into his chest. "You're not going alone next time; I'm going with you, no arguing!"

"Sure, sure, I'm not going to argue with you. In fact I think it's a great idea. I must admit, I am more out of shape in this stuff then I thought." He grunted out painfully, making her pull back and look at him in better detail.

There was also dampness on the creamy white fur of her cheek and she wiped a paw across it, bringing it out into the light.

_Blood…._

She gasped and looked at the hole in his breastplate, where a steady leakage of blood cascaded down his chest. "Alex, you're hurt!"

"Yeah, one of the bastards got me pretty good. But I can't feel it anymore so I think I'm doing better." He slurred before slumping in her grip heavily.

She caught him, barely strong enough to hold him up. She looked over her shoulder to Fox, who was climbing out of his arwing. "Fox, help!" She cried out in a panic.

The vulpine's muzzle shot up and he looked over, spotting the man in disarray. "Oh crap." He muttered, vaulting down and hastily rushing over. He transferred the human from her grip into his and ushered Falco over.

The two men held him up, carrying the wounded human back to the ships. "Everybody get back in!" Fox ordered as he and Falco helped the injured human into Krystal's ship.

"What in the hell happened?!" Miyu demanded concernedly as she began to crawl back into her ship hurriedly. Fay and Slippy were already back in there arwings and ready to go.

"I don't know, but he looks like he got hit, badly." Falco muttered.

"I'm fine…" Alex waved off drunkenly, seconds before he went unconscious.

"Sure you are big guy." Fox retorted, buckling the human into his seat for him, as he was in no condition to do it himself.

As he pulled back, he felt the human's bloody gauntlet clamp down on his shoulder and he looked into Alex's helm. "I did good…right Fox?" He asked tiredly and weakly. "I mean I know I got shot, but I did it though…right?"

Fox smiled and patted the human's shoulder. "Yeah you did Alex. I think you were the only one who could."

The human nodded and slowly slumped into his seat, helmet tilting downwards.

Fox looked at him, smile slowly shifting into a frown. "Hey Alex…buddy…..Alex hey dude wake up!" Fox grabbed his shoulder and shook it roughly, the beginning of panic creeping into his voice. "Hey Alex now's not the time to sleep man you gotta stay awake!"

Krystal lifted her head over his shoulder and her expression melted into fear. "Alex…?" She whimpered, tail lashing behind her in tune with her emotions.

Fox looked over his shoulder at the vixen. "Take off now, get him to the medical wing, I'll take care of the others. Hurry up, now go!" He ushered her and jumped off the ship.

Krystal scrambled into her ship and quickly lifted off, barely letting the canopy close before she was already in the air and speeding towards orbit. As she flew, she repeatedly looked over her shoulder at him. "Hang in there Alex." She whispered softly.

But the human was off in a different world, and could not hear her.

* * *

_"__We need to hold the line! The civilians are just past this bulkhead! We will not allow a single one of these bastards to get through!" An authoritative voice barked over the harsh sound of gunfire._

_Alex shifted his helmet quickly to look at the armored sergeant giving the orders. _

_The older man was standing at the forefront of their hastily erected barricade, firing a stream of bullets at the undead horde attempting to get past them. The swarms of necromorphs were vying for the innocents that they could add to their necrotic legion._

_But they would never get the chance, not if they had anything to say about it. _

_Alex's attention turned back to the efforts of holding the line, and he emptied his rifle into the horde. The only sound competing with the roar of weapons was the guttural slavering growls of the undead scourge. And the only thing keeping them at bay was the weighted mass of bullets from a dozen rifles._

_Yet each man was aware that if there was even a slight hiccup in the volume of lead being dished out, then they would almost assuredly get overwhelmed by sheer numbers. They also knew that there was little chance of them surviving this ordeal._

_As the battle raged, Alex patched himself through to the hospital, where Sarah was working. A small portion of his HUD was taken over for the video link and he waited for it to go through. "Please, please, please answer." He muttered repetitively to himself as he switched out the coil mag for his rifle. _

_"__Oh thank god…" Alex sighed as the connection finally went through and Sarah's face appeared in front of his eyes. He studied her face, even as he looked past her at the gurgling necromorphs, keeping them at bay with a sustained and unwavering shower of pulse rounds. He took in her crimson hair and soft blue eyes around a smooth pale face that would be more suited on a renaissance era sculpture. "Sarah, I need you to get out of there!"_

_"__What why?" She asked in surprise. "I can't just leave all these people here. I have an obligation to do my best to help them." In the background he could see countless people behind her flooding the hallways of the hospital._

_"__I don't care, the necromorphs are going to get past us eventually and flood into the hospital. I __**need**__ to know that you'll be out of there before that happens." He pleaded with her as he and the others slowly began to fallback, unable to keep such a massive swarm away for long._

_"__But Alex-" She tried to argue._

_"__NO SARAH! Just get out of there!" He shouted as there was terrified cry of pain and Alex watched as a three foot barb pierced a soldier's leg and pinned him to the deck. Before he could even fall, a pack of mid-sized necromorphs leaped onto him and began to butcher the poor man with their claws. His screams soon faded and he was lost in the horde. "We can't contain them any longer, head to Deck-J, go to our apartment; it's the safest deck at the moment. There's still a large military presence there. I'll come get you as soon as I can." He paused for a moment. "Do this for me Sarah…please. I can't bear loosing you." Alex sounded as if he was on the verge of despair. _

_The women sighed and nodded her head. "Okay Alex...I'll go." _

_The man sighed in relief as he and the other soldiers backed up and the bulkhead began to seal in front of them, cutting of the harsh wailing and replacing it with a dull silence. As he and the surviving members of his unit turned to jog away, the soft banging of claws upon steel followed them. There would be no rest this day or any other in the foreseeable future_

* * *

Alex awoke to the sound of a brace of medical machines beeping away, memories fading back into his subconscious were they would linger until he went back to sleep. Alex sighed as he comprehended where he was "I have to stop waking up in hospitals."

"ALEX, YOU"RE AWAKE!" A blissful vixen yipped, running over to his bed from her seat in the room. Krystal leaned over the bed and looked down at him.

"Hey there Krys how are you?" He said with a chuckle, banishing any more thoughts of his past, for the moment.

"How am I?" She muttered; disbelief etched on her muzzle. "I'm not the one who got shot! I should be asking you that!"

"Well, then you'll be glad to hear that I feel fine." He announced, absently prodding his chest where he could see raw skin covering his most recent wound. "Well…mostly fine anyways, still a little bit sore though."

"You should count yourself lucky, a little to the left and you would be in casket and not a bed!" She barked at him with a snarl twisting her muzzle. "What were you thinking, going by yourself? You should have let me or someone else go with you!" As she ranted, he saw that she looked fuming, but more than that she looked about ready to cry.

That's when Alex realized, now that he had friends again, that entailed a responsibility to them and to himself. He couldn't just keep riding solo. He had been used to it, surviving on his own for six months on the ark. He had forgotten what it was like to be with people. He couldn't run off any more, he had obligations to others…a duty. There were people that cared about him again, and they would be hurt if he died.

Alex looked to Krystal's unhappy expression and he sighed. "You're right Krys, I should have let you guys help me. It's just that I'm used to doing things on my own. I haven't had anyone to rely on in a long time. I just got used to working by myself. I guess I forgot what it was like to have help. And for that, I'm sorry."

She studied his face carefully, before her muzzle transformed into a huge grin. "Well, you better remember what it's like, because I'm not letting you go by yourself anymore. I'm going to go with you."

Alex looked at her determined expression and smiled, it reminded him of Sarah. She had always been headstrong, facing her problems straight on. Sarah almost never backed down from a problem. That was one of the things that he loved about her….had loved about her. In fact, Krystal reminded him of her a lot, so much so that it bothered him. Whenever he thought about Sarah, he would inevitably begin to think about Krystal, and vice versa. It was something that concerned him. He knew what it was the beginning of, and he was not sure if it was right or wrong.

"Are you okay?" He heard her ask him.

Alex turned to see her looking at him worriedly. "Yeah, I'm fine. Where are the others?" He diverted.

The vixen frowned, knowing that he was withholding something from her, but she let it go for now. 'They're all in the mess hall, you missed lunch. But don't worry." She tilted her muzzle and he looked over to see a tray with two plates of food on it. "I got you covered."

He chuckled. "Thanks Krystal, I don't know what I would do without you."

Hearing that she grinned widely and her tail twitched happily. The vixen stood up and went to go grab the two plates.

And as soon as her back was turned her let his smile drop. What was he going to do with _this? _There was a path open to him and he could take it, perhaps finding the happiness he thought he lost forever. In which case, he would feel as if he was betraying _her_. Or he could ignore it and let whatever may grow wither and die, never to blossom in to what it could be.

As he warred within himself, Krystal returned with the plates and he smiled again, this time falsely. Krystal then began to talk with him as they both ate, and he did his best to seem like he was listening. At a point in their one sided conversation, Krystal noticed his lack of attention. "What's wrong?" She asked.

"I…." Alex paused, unsure as to how to proceed. What he said would be the defining decision that would forever alter what his life in this world would be like. He could take what was offered to him, or he could spurn it. Either decision would have consequences. On one hand he would be opening his heart to love again, which would also open it to a uniquely special type of pain, a pain he would rather not feel again. Or he could remain as he was, alone without that type of love that it would bring. He would need some time to come to a decision. "I was just wondering if you would like to meditate later. After all, I did give my word. And I always keep it."

She bopped her muzzle excitedly. "Of course I would. After we finish eating we can begin."

"Sounds great, I think I might need it." He replied.


	9. Chapter 9

Shattered: Redux

Chapter IX: What Once Was, Part I

_Sometimes you have to let go of what's gone; appreciate what remains and look forward to what's next…_

_-Anonymous_

After his injury, it was decided that they would postpone any more assignments. Instead, they would go to Zoness and wait until he was completely recuperated. Alex had expressed to Fox that he was fit for duty and that they shouldn't stop because he got hurt. But the vulpine had shot that down quickly, saying that the venomians would not be going anywhere anytime soon. The corneria army had the system on lockdown until the situation was resolved. They could take care of it until they got back. Besides, it wasn't like there was a time frame for the mission. The clients were happy that they had already taken care of one of the bases.

Fox also was thinking that it was about time that Alex get a feeling for life not involving fighting or being a mercenary. And for that, he told the human that they would all be going for a little R&amp;R for a few days.

Alex had visibly blanched at that.

It had been so long that he had forgotten how to R&amp;R. That was not even considering that he was completely alien in this world and had no idea what he would even do with his free time. It also compounded his concerns when Krystal and Miyu offered to help him out. He sensed there was some ulterior motive to their assistance and it made the human nervous. What was it they were planning?

Alex wondered that very thought as he stepped out of the shuttle that transported him down to the surface along with the rest of the team. As he looked around the starport, he took in all of the beautiful surroundings with awed eyes. It was quite the overwhelming sight for a man who had never seen a world of its like before.

Zoness had been a polluted wasteland all through the entirety of the Lylat wars up to their conclusion. But after they had concluded, a massive effort had been made by the cornerian government to clean it up. Since then, amazing progress had been made. The once contaminated and diseased world was a spitting image of itself from the pre-war era. He could see over the starport's concrete walls to the massive swath of crisp blue oceanic waves just a few kilometers away.

"It's a beautiful world isn't it eh?" Alex felt a nudge and looked down to his left to Falco. The avian had a prideful smirk on his beak, and a fondness in his sea-green eyes.

"This is your home?" Alex concluded from his observation.

The avian nodded, still smiling. "Yeah, born and raised. I'll always have a soft spot for it." Falco sighed and turned back to the human. "What was your home like?"

Alex took a moment to remember his home. It had been a long time since he gave it thought. "My home was a world near the galactic core, called Osiris IV. It was a mining colony; we produced resources for the construction and preservation of planet crackers. Life was hard there, pollution was rampant and work was dangerous. But we managed to get by, day-to-day."

Fox, who had been listing in as they walked out of the starport, turned and entered the conversation. "So, a world like this must be a pretty big change of scenery."

Alex chuckled. "Yeah, you could say that."

"Do you remember anything else about your home?" Miyu asked.

"I can recall the clouds of black smoke and the sounds of heavy machinery constantly churning as the foundries refined the minerals and prepared them for transport off world. But beyond that, not much else." He replied as they walked past the gates of the port and into the small lot of pavement next to it. There was a large collection of odd looking vehicles lined up in orderly rows and a small booth at the end with a single person inside.

"Sounds like a rough place." Falco muttered thoughtfully.

Alex nodded, not wanting to go in more detail about his past. He stepped to the side with the others as Fox traveled to the booth and began to speak with the attendant. As he waited, his thoughts were invariably going to stray to what the two women had planned. Krystal was standing to his left and so he voiced his concern. "So….what's the plan? Nothing too crazy I hope."

Krystal's muzzle lit up in a smile, teeth shining in the sunlight. "Oh nothing special, just a day relaxing with friends..."

Alex smirked. "Relaxing huh…? That'll be nice for once, no crazy monsters or guys with guns."

"Yeah, we though you would like that." Miyu added with one of her usual grins, eat twitching as she fumbled with her tail.

"Watch out Alex, that's how they get you." Falco added confidently. "It starts off with a harmless day at the beach or whatever. But then, BAM!" The avian slammed a fist into his palm for emphasis. "They got you tied down."

"Tied down?" Alex muttered.

"Yeah, this is just step one. Step two is dates! Then they've really got you!"

"Got me?" The clueless man repeated.

"Got you, you get a ring on your finger and then your days as a bachelor are gone….GONE!" Falco threw his feathered hands up in the air and he was breathing heavily, eyes wide with fervor. He was very passionate about this subject it would seem.

Alex nodded slowly and patted the incensed avian on the shoulder consolingly. "Alright Falco, I've got your warning." As he did so he looked over to Krystal and Miyu and smiled using his other hand's pointing finger in a circular motion on the side of his head as he made a goofy face.

Both of the girls giggled and placed paws on their muzzles and tried to keep it quiet, but Falco picked up on it easily.

"What, what's so funny?" He demanded, turning to glare at them suspiciously.

"Nothing feather head, just an inside joke." Miyu replied as her giggling subsided. Krystal nodded her muzzle in agreement, not saying a word.

Falco eyed them carefully for five seconds before he huffed and shifted his attention to Fox, who was just pulling up in what looked like a rental car. Alex noticed that it hovered a foot and a half of the ground and he could see distortion in the gap between steel and pavement. It reminded him of the repulsor tech back home.

"Come on, get in." Fox called, motioning them over with a paw from the driver's window.

They were all quick to pile into the car. It was about the same size as a large van and so it fit all seven of them relatively comfortably. Falco and Fox took the front seats and the rest of them piled into the back. Slippy and Fay got comfortable seating, but Alex was squashed into the middle of the back between Krystal and Miyu.

He smiled a little awkwardly at the duo and tried to not let the warm fur and female bodies get to him. But as Fox drove the hover car towards wherever it was that they were going, there were plenty of twists and turns. And it seemed that they both were taking every opportunity to get uncomfortably, or comfortably, close to him.

On a particularly harsh turn, Krystal was pulled by the force of the turn until her muzzle was almost pressing into his groin. Needless to say it had the human very red faced. "Sorry." He murmured to her.

Krystal flicked her ear and grinned. "It's okay Alex, accidents happen."

Alex held back a frown as he nodded, shifting his ire over to the front of the car. "Hey Fox, take it easy there huh?" He asked nervously, preceded by an inaudible gulp.

Fox, made the human cringe when he transferred his concentration from driving and to him, looking over his shoulder to reply, unheeding of the road. "Alright Alex, I suppose my reckless flying follows me everywhere."

"Yeah well it's a little crowded back here." He retorted.

"It's alright Alex; I like the snug fit." Miyu expressed happily, resting her muzzle on his shoulder and looking up at him with an adorable smile. "I like it."

He smiled back weakly and a little unsure of himself. He never was one to respond to feminine affection very well, even with Sarah. He always had a tendency to respond awkwardly. "That's nice I guess." As soon as he registered what he said he scolded himself internally. _'Stupid, stupid, stupid...' _He scolded himself, mentally smacking himself in the head.

Miyu giggled at his response and he sighed in indignity. It looked like he was in the clear.

"Hey Fox, why don't you speed up, I want to get there fast!" Miyu ordered.

And then again, maybe not….

* * *

Alex climbed out of the hover-car, sighing as he cracked his back. He was glad to be out of the constrictive and tempting softness. He didn't trust himself to not making an embarrassing mistake. Not to be wrong, he had enjoyed it, but that did not mean that it was any less rough.

As the others piled out and stretched after the hour long drive, he began to study the city they had entered. It reminded him of a resort planet he and his fellow commandos had been deployed to. The only glaring difference was the lack of monsters vying for their blood and bodies.

Every building was composed of alabaster stone and bright blue windows. The furred people walking through the streets were wearing a wide variety of summer clothes, flip-flops, shorts, t-shirts, and hats. And in that instance it also reminded him of that world. Many of the necromorphs wore something very similar, giving Alex a very unpleasant feeling in his gut. Before he could dwell on that any more, something happened.

Fox made his way to the front of the group and grabbed their attention. "Okay guys…" He began. "The start of our little vacation begins now. I'll go set up a hotel for us and then hit the shopping mall. Make sure to keep your communicators on hand. And that's it I guess, have fun."

He fiddled with his comm system and turned to walk away, tail pattering away behind him. After that, everyone began to disperse. Falco said something about seeing old friends and Slippy went with Fay to a well-known tech store. They wanted to get somethings for the ship, grab things that it lacked.

Once it was all said and done, the only ones left standing by the car were Alex, Krystal, and Miyu. The human turned to the two girls and shrugged. "Well now that we're here, what was it that you wanted to do?"

Krystal responded first. "At first the plan was to go shopping."

Alex cringed. He knew what it was like to go shopping with a woman, let alone two. It was not exactly something he was looking forward to. He was sure that it transcended species barriers. Thankfully, it seemed that the plan had changed.

"Instead," Miyu added. "We thought that we would just take you to see the sights."

That sounded much better to him. "I could get behind that idea."

"We thought you might." Krystal replied, smiling as she did so.

Miyu grabbed Alex's hand with her free paw and began to lead him and Krystal around the city. She had more experience with this world then Krystal so she handed the reins over to her friend. They spent a solid couple of hours traveling the pristine streets of the city. Miyu acted as a tour guide of sorts, pointing out things and talking about others. Alex had a great time.

Half of his attention was focused on his friends, and the other half was on the lylatians who filled the streets. There must have been at least a few hundred within sight at any given time. There were families, groups of teens, and the occasional solo rider. But they all had something in common. They were all smiling. It seemed like this was a very happy world. There was almost no trash on the streets and the skies were a clear and unspoiled indigo that was magnificent to behold. This was the kind of place he could see himself settling down at.

The only downside if you could call it that was the reactions of the locals to his presence. Many stared openly or took pictures, as if he was some oddity that needed to be recorded. But he tried to not let it bother him too much; after all he was supposed to be relaxing right now. And letting it trouble him would not be conductive to that.

Krystal and Miyu soon began to notice the attention he was gathering. "Hey Alex, how about we go get a bite to eat? I know just the place." The feline led them to a small bistro-like place at the corner of an intersection. It was a single story building and on the far side was the beginning of a beach that's coastline stretched uninterrupted for kilometers in both direction until it disappeared around a curve. He gave one last look to its white sandy beaches as he slipped inside behind the two girls.

The inside of the little eatery was an attractive setting. The walls were a dark shade of lime and there were only a few tables for people to sit at with an additional handful outside. It was occupied by a dozen or so locals, who were all eating contentedly and talking amongst themselves. "Let's go grab some seats." Miyu suggested, grabbing a small table in the back of the café and waited to be served.

The patrons soon noticed that one of them was out of the ordinary and the stares resumed. But at least they were not as obtrusive; they only gave a quick look before returning to their meals. Alex appreciated that.

"So Alex, what do you think of Zoness?" Miyu inquired, fiddling with her tail as she waited for a response, watching him with soft amber eyes.

"To be honest, I think that it's an amazing planet, I wouldn't mind living here." He responded as he picked absently at the peeling corner of the wooden table.

The feline smiled and looked to Krystal. "See, no one can resist this place. That's almost exactly what you said the first time you got to stroll around here."

"Indeed, it is a wonderful place. It reminds me of the Balos Isles back on Cerinia. They were just as beautiful." The vixen sighed in remembrance of the forever lost beauty of her homeworld.

Miyu nodded her head in understanding before asking Alex. "What does it remind you of?"

The human ceased his picking and looked up to respond. "The closest thing I can think of was a small resort world near the edge of the Epsilon system. It was a great little world, and it retained its splendor all the way until we lost it during the marker war. But we gave one hell of a fight before we let it go."

That got the feline thinking. "What was the Marker war?" She had been left out of the true story of why he was there. And the human had forgotten that.

He shared a quick look with Krystal before he explained. "It was a war that devastated our worlds, but that is something I would like to never talk about again. There is much in that I would like to remain lost, I'm sorry. I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

"That's okay." Miyu bounced back from the denial smoothly. "I understand."

Before they could continue, a voice cut in. "Hello there and welcome to Ivana's Bistro, what can I g- Miyu….is that you?"

Alex turned to see a very large female wolverine with a blonde mane, dark grey fur and a lighter ashy colored stripe running from under her throat and disappearing down in her clothes. She was wearing a waitress's uniform and a huge smile.

"Hey there Lira, it's good to see you again." Miyu greeted casually with one of her usual smirks.

The other girl squealed excitedly and rushed over to pick up her friend in a 'bear' hug, dropping the stack of menus she had in her paws to scatter across the floor haphazardly.

"Miyu, long time no see! How long's it been; two months since you last walked in here?!"

The feline patted the much larger women's back. "Something like that, how about you let me down eh Lira?"

"Oops sorry, I forget that you don't like to be picked up." The women apologized, quickly releasing her friend.

Alex watched their reunion with a smile. It was always nice to see two friends reunite after a long time. He looked over to Krystal who was smiling as well. "Do you know her?"

The vixen nodded. "I've talked to her a few times before."

It was around this time that Lira had caught on that the feline wasn't alone. "Krystal, it is nice to see you again. And…." She drew a blank at Alex, before her muzzle began to shift into recognition as she pointed at him. "You must the alien from the news!" She yapped excitedly.

"The very same…" He agreed, politely smiling at the woman.

The female wolverine didn't respond. Too busy staring at him to answer. Miyu saw that and elbowed her friend hard, which didn't have much effect on the burly women then jarring her out of her stupor and letting her realize what she had been doing. "Oh I'm sorry." She apologized quickly. "It's not nice to stare."

Alex shrugged. "That's alright, I'm getting used to it."

"I know what'll make it better!" The girl announced, seconds before lifting the large human out of his seat and giving him a breathless hug.

It was at that moment, that he realized that the female wolverine was far larger than he expected. Alex considered himself to be a large and muscular man. But she was something else entirely. Lira stood at least a couple inches taller than he did and Alex could feel thick corded muscle underneath her downy coat of dark grey fur. It was an odd contradiction.

"Let him down you lug!" Miyu giggled as she tapped her friend on the shoulder and signaled her let him go.

Alex took a deep breath as his boots reunited with the ground, right back where they belonged. It went without saying that the hug had caught him by surprise. He heard giggling behind him and saw that Krystal had been laughing earnestly as he was hoisted up and squeezed by the large furry woman.

"Sorry, sorry…" Lira began to apologize again as she backed up a little, brushing of the front of her blue apron as she nitpicked.

"Lira's a….physical person." Miyu explained. "She likes to give hugs."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Alex told the blushing wolverine. "Next time I would like a warning though."

Lira nodded determinedly. "Right, give warnings, I got it." Alex wouldn't have been surprised if she wrote his advice down.

She then tried to get into work mode and asked for their orders. Miyu took a regular old fashioned burger, Krystal wanted a chef's salad and Alex decided on a simple ham sandwich with what looked like potato chips. Lira smiled and left to get their orders prepared.

"Lira's a nice girl, if a little soft on the inside." Miyu said as she watched her friend leave. "She's big and strong, but also frail. It doesn't take much to get her blubbering. She's a big ol softy at heart."

Alex smiled at that, he knew a guy just like that. Drew had been a titan of a man, a heavy gunner with a P36Z Assault cannon. But he was also the kindest most tranquil person that Alex had ever met, and he had a soft spot for anything that was small and covered in fur. Most of the other men thought he was a little slow, but the truth was that's just how he was.

"I knew someone like that, he was a great man."

Miyu smiled at that.

They talked for a little while before their meals came back, all held on a tray balanced on one of Lira's paws. "Lunch is served!" She announced happily, setting down the plates with their individual owners.

"Thanks Lira!" Miyu excitedly grabbed her burger, taking a massive bite and reducing it by a full quarter. Whatever she said next was unintelligible with so much food in her mouth.

Lira chuckled at her friend's expense. She knew that Miyu always loved the food here, especially the burger. Yet as much as she would like to stay and chat for a while, she had a job to do. Lira said her goodbyes and walked away, stopping at another table and getting their orders.

"She certainly is an interesting individual." Alex said, turning to Miyu.

The feline nodded; too busy eating to speak.

The trio went about finishing their meal and chatting pleasantly throughout the half hour it took to finish their meal. At the end, they finished and Miyu footed the bill. They talked with Lira before leaving, and Miyu promised to see her again before they left.

After that, Alex and the girls exited the dinner, and the human felt a little more comfortable with his lot in life. It had improved drastically compared to his bleak fatalistic outlook six months ago. And most if not all of that could be contributed the friends he made. Without them to help keep his mind off of what had transpired to him and his species, he doubted he would have recovered his sanity.

"Now, let's see about getting you some beach clothes." Krystal yipped excitedly, rubbing her black padded palms together in anticipation.

Alex turned to face her and Miyu, confused. "Beach…clothes?"

"Yep, you can't have a full Zoness experience without a trip to the most beautiful and luxurious beaches in all of the Lylat system." Miyu explained with a smirk.

Alex frowned. He had never been to a beach. The world he lived on did not support a coastline, everything, even water, needed to be brought in on massive supply ships, monthly. Although he had seen pictures of beaches, but that was the extent of his knowledge in that department. "If you guys insist,"

"We do." Miyu affirmed, grabbing his hand and tugging him along the street. Ale looked over his shoulder at Krystal, who was smiling as she followed along after him and the determined feline.

Hunting for clothes that were suitable for someone without a tail proved to be an interesting task. In the end, they grabbed a suitable pair of trunks from a shop near the beach and just sealed the hole in the rear.

With that done, Alex and the girls stepped walked over to the beach. The human took in the endless veranda of pure white sand and crowds of families and friends playing on the beach. It was a scene that would stick with him for the rest of his life.

It had been so long since he had seen so many people enjoying themselves. It took him back to his days on the ark, before its collapse. The residential district had a huge park that many of the families visited daily. He himself had often spent many a relaxing day there with Sarah. Those memories took up a descent portion of his happy ones.

Krystal and Miyu watched Alex closely, taking in his softly smiling expression as he appeared to be absorbed in memories of a happier time. Seeing his countenance in such an obvious state of contentment warmed their hearts, and also sought to remind Krystal of why it was the way he was. Alex had very little pleasant memories to call upon, and most were undoubtedly clouded by his suffering. That only affirmed her desire to give him more memories to enjoy.

The vixen called out to him softly, breaking his sentimental concentration. "Hey Alex, let's go grab a spot."

"Right, grab a spot." He responded a little distantly as he focused himself once more on current reality. His smile faded somewhat, but did not go away completely.

The small group of friends managed to secure a spot near the sparkling blue water, only a few meters from the gently crashing waves.

Alex and Miyu set down their towels, bought from the same small shop that they had gotten his swimming trunks from. The sun only radiated a tender heat so an umbrella was not needed. Once their spot was set up, Alex wandered off towards the men's restroom, intending to change. And Krystal and Miyu decided to wait until he came back before changing as well.  
The vixen sat at the edge of their little spot, letting her paws drag lines through the white sand, deep in thought.

Alex occupied much of her mind since he arrived in her life. And while at first she had considered him a close friend, she was starting to consider that he may be a little closer than she originally anticipated. While it was true that he was different, it was also true that she felt comfortable around him, as if she could be herself without fear of being judged. He was someone she felt comfortable in confiding in, both with her anguishes and her delights.

Whenever he was not present she would think about him, his soft-spoken way and smoothly resonant voice. She would also think of his inherit compassion and understanding that he approached everyone with. Not once had she ever seen him angry with anyone on the ship. Indeed, he never seemed to be angry at all. And yet he had a fierce desire to protect everyone from harm. Her powers gave her a better understanding of the way he thought then he probably understood himself.

Alex was the kind of man a girl met perhaps once in her life.

Krystal ran her palm across the warm grainy sand and smiled. He was the kind of man she could see as a part of her life. The only thing was…did he even remotely feel the same way? Krystal didn't want to delve into his mind to find out; it would be an unjust use of her abilities, and a breach of his trust. There was also the thing about Sarah. She had heard him say that name aboard the derelict ship, when it appeared that he had been talking to an empty corridor. Who was Sarah, and what did she mean to him. It was a question that she was afraid to ask, for two reasons. One, Alex would know that they had intruded upon his privacy, and two, it could be something she did not want to hear.

Krysta; clenched her paws and dug her claws into the sandy beach.

All of this was so complicated, she just wished that it could be easy, and that she could just up and out say what she wanted to say and see what his response would be. And yet, she could not bring herself to just outright ask him.

"Let me guess, thinking about Alex?" Miyu's knowing tone invaded her thoughts.

The vixen shifted her muzzle to see the brown and black spotted feline sprawled on the quilt of towels, arms propped behind her head and facing her. "How did you know that?" Krystal inquired with a blush.

Miyu grinned. "It doesn't take a genius Krystal. I've seen more than enough love struck girls to pick up on the signs."

Krystal's ears panned backwards as her blush deepened at that and she smiled weakly. "Is it that apparent?"

The feline's head shook negatively. "Nah, he wouldn't be able to see it. Most men, regardless of whether or not their alien, can't see what's in front of them."

Krystal sighed in relief. She didn't know what she would have done if he knew what she was thinking. But that also got her thinking. What did Miyu think of Alex? She certainly seemed enamored back on the ship. The vixen voiced her thought and watched as the feline tried to play it off nonchalantly.

"Alex is a good guy, a little quiet at times, but good nonetheless." The telepathic vixen easily picked up on her surface emotions and could see right past her charade.

"You like him too." She acknowledged, self-assuredly.

Miyu's smile faltered however she kept it up, sighing and shaking her head ruefully. "You know Krystal, sometimes you're abilities are just plain unfair….yes, I like him too."

Krystal nodded to herself before fixing her emerald eyes on the feline's golden ones. "So….what are we going to do about this?" The cerulean vixen had no intention of backing down.

Miyu shrugged rather easily. "I don't know. I've never fallen for a guy before, never mind with someone else to contend with."

Krystal frowned. She didn't know what to do with this development. And before she could figure it out, Alex returned.

"Hey girls, what's with all the serious faces?" The obliviously innocent man asked.

Both women had to file their conversation away for another time and turned to address the newly arrived human, freezing as they saw him, jaws flapped open and rendered speechless by his appearance.

Alex stood there, besides their little sanctuary of towels. The human was clad only in the dark blue swimming trunks and holding his clothes in one hand. His state of undress allowed them to see what his clothes had been hiding from view. His physique could have been that of a semi-professional body builder. There was little to no fat on his body and most of it was defined muscle. Yet marring his impressive and mouthwatering figure was a patchwork of old faded wounds. Six months of fighting for survival had clearly left its mark on him. Both women could see jagged scars across his torso and what looked like puncture wounds on most of his upper body. His legs were largely free of blemishes although there were a few dime shaped circles of discolored flesh on his upper thighs.

Alex looked puzzled as to what they were looking at until he realized it and frowned embarrassedly. "I'm sorry about that, I'm sure it's nothing pretty to look at." The human looked ashamed of his body.

Both women blanched, not realizing that he had taken their looks the wrong way. "No, no, no." Miyu quickly spoke up. "I think scars are hot!"

Krystal, not knowing what else to do, nodded her head in agreement.

Alex seemed a little off put by her bold comment, but was noticeably relived that it had at least not been disgust in their eyes. The human didn't respond to her remark and instead sat on the towels beside them.

With him back to hold the fort, both girls were quick to grab their bags and head to the women's bathroom to change as well. That gave Alex plenty of time to think.

He was not sure what to take on the way they had looked at him. He was a little rusty when it came to anything besides fighting and fixing things. It was far easier to fix something or kill something then to talk with women. And it was even harder to try and understand them.

Although, it was nice to see that his body was desirable as that answered one of his worries regarding what his chances were with Krystal if he so decided to head down that road. And that was something he remained uncertain about. Alex did not know if it was right to try and find affection after losing Sarah. Would it be betraying her if he did? Or would he just be doing what was natural, seeking something to replace that void that had been ripped into him?

As terrible as it was to admit, he longed to once more have someone to hold and talk with, to share everything, body and soul. He missed the warmth of having another body in bed with him and the pleasure female company brought. Alex once more wanted someone to shower with love and affection.

The human chuckled softly at himself.

These were some pretty hefty thoughts to have at a beach. By rights, this should be a place to relax and forget about one's problems. And it seemed all it did was remind him of them. Alex decided to change gears; instead of dwelling on the inside he shifted his focus to the outside. He sat on the bed of towels and watched as the locals and tourists played on the beach and in the water. It was odd for the human, seeing all these different species interacting with one another and not showing any signs of segregation. It was possible that a sort of civil rights movement had happened already or that diversity was so commonplace that it was rendered unnecessary.

It was an interesting thought to consider.

Something else that also stuck with him was that he could easily see them as humans. Strip away their fur, tails, muzzles, and other animalistic traits, and they acted just like any person he had ever know. Alex closed his eyes and listened to the sounds of the lylatians as they played and talked amongst each other. And for a brief moment, Alex could picture that he was not the last human and was actually sitting amidst a crowd of humans, happily going about their days, enjoying the company of loved ones and friends.

As he pictured his unattainable fantasy, a solitary tear made its lonesome track down his face.

The shuffling of approaching feet kicking up sand alerted the human to the fact they were returning and so he quickly brushed the tear away and cleared his throat. He could feel sorry for himself later.

Instead, he turned to see the women approach, and it was his turn to be dumbfounded.

He first laid eyes on Krystal, who was wearing a dark red two-piece. The crimson color wrapped around her modest breasts and her private regions both completely and tantalizingly. The cerulean vixen's long slender legs and enticing figure was accentuated by her choice of attire. Her blue and creamy white fur looked perfectly brushed and he could not see a hair out of place on her stunning form.

Walking beside Krystal was Miyu, and she was wearing an even more treacherous outfit. Her green suit seemed to be insufficient in holding her prodigious bosom and it left just enough to the imagination so that she could not be arrested for public indecency. The dark green suit went surprisingly well with her brown and black spotted fur. And while she was shorter than Krystal and of stockier build, she was easily as beautiful in her own way.

"So, what do you think, smoking hot right?" Miyu asked with a spicy grin and a fierce gleam in her eyes as she struck an enticing pose.

Alex didn't know what to say. He was terrible in these kinds of situations. The poor man just didn't know how to react. "Uh…yeah?" He replied, sounding more uncertain than anything else.

Miyu chuckled at that, finding his unease cute.

"How about we head down to the water now?" Krystal suggested, saving Alex from any more tough situations, for the moment.

"That's a great idea!" Miyu declared, poking Alex on the nose with a padded finger. "Tag you're it!" The feline swiveled on her heels and shot down the beach like a rocket.

Alex stood up from the pile of towels and gave Krystal a small grin before chasing after Miyu.

Krystal shook her head in bemusement and jogged to catch up. For now, she would try and focus on having fun. The big questions could be answered later.


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hey everybody, sorry for the lateness of my uploads. I needed to take a mandatory break to deal with life issues. But, now I have some time and a few chapters for this story and others complete ahead of time. I won't take any more time away from the story, except one last thing. To those of you who have asked questions about my other stories and possible new ones, I appreciate you asking. But I usually prefer to answer them in PMs and most of you only have guest accounts so I can not do that. So I apologize if I have not responded to you questions. **

**That's it for now, hope you enjoy the continuation of Shattered!**

**-DrakeTheTraveler**

Shattered: Redux

Chapter IX: What Once Was, Part II

_Sometimes you have to let go of what's gone; appreciate what remains and look forward to what's next…_

_-Anonymous_

Alex chased after Miyu, panting as he put all of his effort into catching the swift feline. He ran passed groups of startled people and weaved through the forest of parasols and surfboards as he pursued the female lynx that blazed a trail ahead of him across the sparkling sands. Every once and a while she would look back with a beaming and playful grin.

He grinned back at her as he redoubled his efforts and slowly began to gain ground on the lynx. Alex managed to get within a few feet of her, close enough to hear Miyu giggling, and reached a hand out to grab her.

Suddenly, he lost his footing, his foot had gotten snagged in a pothole small hole and it sent him soaring forward to crash heavily onto the white sand, shooting up a spray of the pure white granules as his face sunk into the unforgiving grit.

The unfortunate man groaned as he climbed back up onto his knees, spitting out the gritty particles and wiping his face clean. "Ow." He muttered as he spat out a chunk of sand. A fine dusting of white coated his frame.

"Aw, did you fall down?" He heard Miyu ask teasingly as she walked back over to check up on him. The spotted cat crouched down beside him and looked down with a small smile as she helped him back onto his feet.

Alex grumbled unintelligibly as he dusted himself off.

The lynx made a pouty face. "Aww, is the poor human angwy?" She cooed.

Alex tackled her without warning, pinning the feline to the sandy beach, smiling down at her triumphantly. "Got ya." He snickered, his trap sprung.

Miyu shook her muzzle and flashed her sharp teeth in a rueful grin. "Why you cheeky bastard, that's dastardly."

Alex shrugged and leaned in closer and whispered. "You're it."

He bolted off her and sprinted down to the surf, sending geysers of water into the air as he trampled through the thigh high waves.

Miyu threw herself back onto her paws and was chuckling as she chased after him.

Alex looked over his shoulder as he was running and his smile vanished. The damn cat was fast! Miyu was zooming down the water, heading right for him, like a heat seeking missile. Even as he ran as fast as he could get his legs to move, she effortlessly closed in, eyes shining with a predatory gleam. "Crap." He muttered in defeat, seconds later before the feline slammed into him, spending both under the gentle blue waves.

Everything cut out and he couldn't see under the water very well, but he did feel a relentless weight planted on his chest. Gasping, he forced his head from under the waves, blinking away the salty water and seeing that Miyu sat firmly on his chest. The feline had a victorious smirk plastered across her muzzle. "Got ya." She chuckled throatily.

Her furred body pinned him to the ground and he began to feel a tingling in his groin as she rubbed against him subconsciously in a way that began to register in the primal parts of his brain. Alex froze as his body was either unable or unwilling to respond to his wish to move.

Miyu gazed downwards at him with her deep amber eyes and her smile was replaced with a look of hunger. The feline placed her paws onto his chest and traced them upwards to the side of his head, cradling him in her gentle grip. She then closed her eyes slowly and pursed her black lips, bringing them down deliberately to his. She folded her ears back and her tail began to flop lazily behind her, patting against his legs.

His brain was fogged with desire and confusion, as he was unsure as to how to react to this situation he suddenly found himself in. The man's arms moved on their own, running up the sides of her toned and furred legs to grab onto her lusciously soft furry hips.

At his touch, the feline produced a steady purr that he could feel through the water and where she was straddling him. His seeming acceptance accelerated her and she brought his head up the rest of the way to mash against her lips in a fiery kiss. Her tongue wiggled against his closed mouth, seeking entrance and forced its way in

Within seconds, her pink appendage began to explore the depths of his mouth, tracing all of its contours as the muscle's owner began to moan into his mouth determinedly. Miyu pressed her muzzle further into him, trying to fit her tongue's entire length into his mouth. Her subconscious rubbing shifted into grinding as she ground her hips against him, mewling softly.

Alex felt his member stiffen up under her lustful assault and the sudden intake of pleasure jumpstarted his brain. He let his head fall back under the cool waves, letting it douse the fires of lust running rampant in his head.

Since their heads were connected so intimately, Miyu was brought along, spluttering and releasing him as she shook her muzzle violently, sending water droplets flying in every direction.

Alex sat up and the waterlogged feline slid off of him with a squeak, splashing back into the water. She was quick to get back on her paws and looked at him carefully.

Alex didn't know what to say. "I…" He trailed as he lapsed into an uncomfortable silence that seemed to stretch on forever. "I have to go to the bathroom." He finished before turning around and slowly walking up the shore and towards the small roofed building near the streets.

Miyu watched him go. "Great Miyu, you blew it! You just couldn't let things play out, you had to go and mess it up." She scolded herself with a sigh.

She trudged back onto the beach and sat down by the waterline holding her knees in her paws to watch the waves roll back and forth. The lynx set her muzzle atop her knees and gave a deep winded sigh.

"What happened…Miyu?" She turned her muzzle to see Krystal padding up to her, a curious gracing her features. She didn't answer and instead returned her gaze back to the ocean. The vixen stood for a moment before sitting next to the cat and adopting her pose. Krystal looked back to her friend and repeated her question in a softer tone. "What happened?"

"I screwed up." She replied quietly, turning to her friend with red eyes. "We were playing and having fun, I tackled him and then…" She snarled, baring her teeth and slamming a paw into the sand. "I couldn't control myself!"

The vixen nodded understandingly and placed a paw on her friends back, rubbing it softy. "It'll be alright."

Miyu sniffled. "What if it isn't? What if he can't bear to look at me anymore? He probably things that I'm just some sex starved animal!"

Krystal frowned.

Miyu had obviously tried to get closer to him, but it had not ended happily. The vixen didn't know whether to feel sorry for her friend, or angry with her. After a short debate she decided that her friend needed her help. "Of course he won't." She chided. "He's smarter than you give him credit for, just give it time and I'm certain that this will blow over."

Miyu rubber her eyes with her paws and looked to her friend timidly. "Is that really what you think?"

"Yes it is." She confirmed. "Give him some space, and after a while you should confront him about it.

Miyu bobbed her head slowly. "Okay, I'll do that…thanks Krystal….I know that this probably upset you a little bit."

Krystal smirked. "Yeah, it did. But our friendship is more important than any rivalry."

"What if it doesn't have to be a rivalry?" Miyu asked.

The vixen flicked her ears and tilted her muzzle. "What do you mean?"

"Well…there is always the pack law." The lynx suggested.

Krystal considered what her friend said. "I suppose there is…"

Both girls sighed and looked out to the waters, watching as the sun slowly began its descent in the fading light of the evening sky. "Love is messy." Miyu commented dryly, sending both girls into a fit of giggles.

* * *

Alex leaned over the counter of the public bathroom and stared at his haggard face through the chipped pane of glass over the sinks. A dozen thoughts rampaged through his head as he tried to come to grips with what happened down on the beach. He had been taken by surprise by Miyu, not expecting her to do that.

But more than that he was angry at himself, he had let it continue. If there was any girl that had earned his love, it was Krystal. She had seen him through his integration and was a very close friend. And while they had never shared a romantic gesture, they were practically dating in all but name. She had been nothing but kind and caring to him since they met and did much to curtail the torment he went through on the ark. She lost her people and was the only one who genuinely understood what it was like to be the last.

But then he had met Miyu, the cat with the spitfire personality, she was a meteor of emotions and action on a collision course with his heart. She shared his enthusiasm for weapons, fighting, and had a soft side that rarely showed but he loved to see. She was fun to have around and confident in everything that she did.

Somehow…somewhere…along this crazy rollercoaster of emotions that was his so-called life, they managed to burrow into his heart, and they were protected by barbs. If he were to try and remove them, the process would be painful and he was not certain if he would survive it.

He had plenty of experience with loneliness. Six months of being pitted against the monstrous, perverted, and necrotic forms of everyone you have ever known and loved really hammered that feeling home. It was something that he wished never to feel again, if he did it would assuredly destroy him. Now that he had been reintroduced to life, it would tear him apart to be denied it.

It was ironic really.

He had been able to live alone when he was stranded on the ark; he had even come to terms with the way his life would play out. He had accepted that that was how it would eventually end. Either the necros would finally get there claws on him, or he would just give up and turn his gun on himself. It was something he expected.

But….

Now the necromorphs were gone, he had a life to live, friends that he needed, and love that he thought he had found.

If he lost it all again, it would absolutely destroy him, shattering his fragile core. He did not want to lose anyone, one more loss and it would begin his downward spiral into madness.

He would never be the same man he was before the ark fell. Now, he was deathly afraid of being alone and the darkness terrified him. He had to sleep with the lights on when he went to bed, _like a fucking four year old! _

Alex clenched his hands and the countertop creaked dangerously.

What kind of man was he now?

The answer to that question was simple…he was a broken one.

So, how could a broken man go out there and accept that Miyu loved him? How could he choose between the two girls that had done so much to balance him out? He couldn't just choose which one he loved more, it didn't work like that. It was just his misfortune that he fell in love with more than one girl.

Alex came to a grim decision.

The best solution was to simply forgo love, it would be better if they remained friends and the girls could find a better man to fall in love with, one who wasn't flawed. They deserved more than he could hope to give them.

Alex twisted the faucet and splashed water over his face and after preparing a façade, he walked out of the bathroom with a counterfeit smile.

As he walked down the beach he noticed that the sun had set, plunging the coast in darkness. Dotted across the sands, small lights of fires flickered and he could see figures sitting around them and their chatting created a dull roar. Immediately, his pulse quickened. Alex had no idea that it was so close to nightfall before he went into the bathroom.

Shapes began to manifest in the flickering fire lights, bladed limbs and malformed faces. On the wind, he could hear faint howling from rotted lungs. Alex's heart started to pound and he began to shake uncontrollably. As he walked, he spotted two familiar figures sitting by the beach and ran, stumbling drunkenly as the shadowy creatures in the dark taunted him. He could feel his sanity seeping out of him and his fear addled mind became a jumbled mess with one goal, to find his friends.

Krystal heard his shambling and looked over to see him running, eyes wide and breathing heavily. "Alex, what's wrong?" She asked worriedly, scrambling to her paws and rushing over. Miyu was quick to follow, and they both caught him as he started to collapse.

"Dark…it's too dark…the monsters." He mumbled, shivering in the warm night wind.

Krystal had never seen him like this before, but from what she was hearing, she could piece together what this was about. "It's okay Alex; there are no monsters here, just us." She soothed, running a paw across his shoulder. His skin felt clammy and it was damp with sweat.

'No, they are always in the dark, waiting….waiting." He muttered, holding on to the vixen for dear life.

"What's going on Krystal?" Miyu demanded as she looked on in confusion and fear.

"I don't know Miyu, not for sure. But we should head to the hotel." Miyu went to grab their stuff while Krystal stayed with Alex.

She sat beside him, rubbing his back as the man sat in the dark. It took a solid three minutes before he seemed to regain his mental faculties.

"I must look like a fool." He muttered with an ugly self-effacing chuckle. "Scared of the dark like a damn kid…some man I am."

"What was that?" Krystal asked softly, worry laced into her voice.

Alex looked over to her, eyes bloodshot. "I can't seem to help it, if it gets too dark….I just lose it. I don't know for sure why, but I have an inkling as to what it may be."

"What?"

He looked away from her. "I rather not say."

Alex was almost one hundred percent certain that his long term exposure to the marker's signal was a major player in his unexplainable debilitating fear of the dark. And if that was true, it was merely the onset of a more serious disease. They had called it _signal madness_, and it could happen to any person affected by the marker, at any time. Symptoms were not at all pleasant, the lucky ones became psychotic, and the unluckier ones….they became something worse.

If it got worse, he would have no choice but to put himself down before he went loony and began to try and create markers. The last thing he wanted was to be responsible for perpetuating them. But that option was not exactly his favorite, he was just starting to find the appeal in living again.

Krystal watched his expression as it ranged from anger to sadness. His surface thoughts were in such a tumult that she couldn't get a bead on what he was thinking. But one think was for certain, she was worried about him. This was an unexpected development, but she had some experience with matters of the mind, and she knew that it had something to do with the monsters that had destroyed his species. It would be understandable if someone were to develop psychological ticks after an event like that.

She herself had a hard time letting her friends go off without here. She feared that something bad would happen if she wasn't there with them. It manifested after Cerinia was destroyed and she made friends on the team. She was afraid that she wouldn't be able to help them, like her homeworld. Of course, she had eventually managed to get over it, but that was after a lot of help.

"That's okay Alex. You don't have to say anything. Just know that if you need me, I'll be there." She leaned in close and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, making him smile.

"Thanks Krystal…that means a lot to me."

She smiled back at him and stood up, seeing the outline of Miyu as she came back from there spot, arms full of their towels and clothes. "Let's get going. I think a good night's sleep is in order."

"Is he doing better?" Miyu's voice came muffled through the stack of bags in her paws.

"I am doing better." He answered. "Sorry for the little freak out. I don't know what came over me."

The mound of stuff rolled as the feline under it shrugged. "That's okay; everyone deserves to have a breakdown every now and then."

The trio then decided that it would be best to call it quits for the day and head back to the hotel for the night. Alex couldn't help but feel bad about it though, he had ruined a perfectly good night with his inane episode. It was just another reason that they girls would be better off with some other guys he supposed.

The walk back to the hotel was done in a tense silence. Alex was still high strung from his panic attack and the girls didn't want to upset him any further. Thankfully there were plenty of lights on the way back and with Krystal and Miyu in close proximity; he managed to get to the hotel without incident.

Inside the foyer, they spotted a familiar vulpine lounging on one of the couches and flipping through his wrist bracer lazily. At the sound of the doors opening, his ears flicked and he looked over to see the three entering. He smiled but it shifted into a worried frown as he took in there grimaces and Alex's disheveled appearance.

Fox quickly got up and marched over. "What's the problem?"

"There's no problem Fox, I just had a little panic attack." Alex explained, quietly.

"Panic attack?" Fox repeated in confusion. He had never seen the human have a panic attack, even when he had first arrived.

"Don't pester him about it." Krystal scolded.

"Okay I won't." Fox sighed. He could just ask Alex later. But for now he would make sure they were all settled.

Fox gave Krystal and Miyu their separate room keys and they went off to their respective rooms, giving the human a quick hug each.

After that, Fox told Alex that he would be bunking with him, and that the guys had doubled up, Slippy was rooming with Falco, and that got a weak chuckle out of the human.

On the way up, Fox experienced that same tenseness in the air, and that Alex remains silent all the way up until they entered their room. Fox slid the card and opened the door, letting them both in. Then he watched as Alex slowly plodded inside and threw his bagged clothes on the bed at the far side of the room. From there he walked over and plopped down on the padded chair facing the window and silently staring out into the night, still wearing his swimming trunks. As he sat, he reached a hand out and flicked the light switch, bathing the room in a soft yellow light. As soon as the light came on, a small relieved sigh eased out of him.

Fox lay down on his own bed over the sheets and sat there thinking for a few minutes. Alex was obviously troubled about something and when he was troubled, he found that a stiff drink and good friends went a long way in making the problem seem less intense.

That gave Fox an idea and he sat up from his bed and walked over to Alex's. He grabbed the human's bag of clothes and called out his name. When Alex turned to look he tossed it to him. "Get dressed, I'm gonna take you somewhere."

"Where are we going?" Alex asked as he caught the bag.

"Just get your clothes on." Fox retorted with a chuckle.

* * *

"What is this place?" Alex asked his friend as they pulled up to a large two story building with bright lights and a line of furs trailing away from the door.

"A place I like to go when I need to find myself." Fox replied as he turned off the hovercars engine.

"A church?" Alex joked.

"No…a nightclub." Fox fired back with a grin as he got out of the car.

Alex shook his head and opened his door, stepping out into the night air. The bright lights of the club's sign banished away most of the darkness and made the job of walking over, easy. Alex thanked _The_ _Lylat Star _for their generous lighting.

The closet they got, the more excited the voices from the furs in line became. _"It's Fox Mccloud!"_ was a common phrase and so was _"It's the alien from TV!"_

Fox just waved politely and Alex copied him and a few pictures were taken before they stopped in front of the door, bypassing the line entirely. Alex supposed that publicity did have its perks.

Blocking the door was a massive muscled rhino in a jeans and a black shirt that had CREW in large white letters printed across the front. The burly rhino dwarfed the both of them. "Hey, Bruce." Fox greeted.

"Hey Mccloud, are you bringing your new friend too?" The baritone behemoth inquired.

"Yeah, he needs a few stiff drinks." The vulpine replied.

The rhino nodded and moved to the side, letting them in. "Have a good time and mind your manners." He warned.

Inside the club, bright multicolored lights flashed and a fast paced song pumped loud enough that Alex could feel it in his bones. It reminded him of the clubs he had seen before, although it was occupied by a different species of clientele.

Alex followed Fox as he weaved through the partying crowds, bumping into others and frequently getting recognized. Eventually they managed to stop at the bar and took two free stools in the center.

Seconds later a thin and curvy cheetah sashayed over with a sultry smile. "Hey Fox, long time no see, and I _see_ you brought company, and he's good looking to boot!" The feline giggled and gave the human a flirtatious wink.

"Hey Melina, my friend and I will have the usual, and make them doubles." Fox dropped a few credit chips on the counter. "Oh, and he's off limits to eh."

The cheetah pouted. "Aw you're no fun Foxy! But I'll serve ya anyways." Melina smiled and swiped up the credits, turning to fumble behind the counter, the sound of clinking bottles could be heard. She pulled up a glowing blue bottle and two tall glasses. The feline deftly twirled the bottle caught it and poured the drinks, flashing another flirty smile Alex's way. "Here you are, two Cobalt fireballs." She slid the drinks over and Fox grabbed them.

"Thanks Melina, you're the best."

"Don't you know it!" She giggled and turned to serve another patron, rolling her hips and playfully bouncing her tail back and forth.

Fox sighed as he watched her go. "That girl…." He shook his muzzle and took a long swig from his glass, draining it. He slammed the empty mug down to the bar and heaved a deep sigh. "Phew, that really hits ya hard." He looked over to Alex and slid the second drink towards him. "Here, drink up."

Alex hesitantly lifted up the drink, eyeing its glowing blue color. He swore that he saw it bubble. The human shifted his gaze over to Fox and raised an eyebrow.

Fox rolled his eyes. "Just freaking drink it Alex."

Alex shrugged and downed it in one go.

Almost instantly his eyes teared up and he coughed as his throat was consumed in fire. The room spun and he grabbed the bar for support. "What the hell was in that?" He demanded over a fit of coughing as he shakily slammed his glass onto the counter.

This time Fox shrugged. "Oh you know, a little alcohol, food coloring, radioactive isotopes, it's the works."

Alex spluttered in disbelief. "Radioactive…isotopes?"

Fox chuckled, smacking his paw on the top of the bar. "Nah, but I got ya!"

Alex huffed, unamused. "Ha, ha, ha, very funny Fox."

Fox continued to laugh. "Oh come on lighten up Alex, I'm just trying to have fun here."

Alex sighed. "I guess it was pretty funny."

"That's the spirit, loosen up man, now's the time to kick back and relax." Fox hailed Melina down and got four more drinks. After that, they talked for a while and drank, getting decently buzzed as they did so.

Fox had been waiting to get Alex a little tipsy before he tried to question him and find out what his problem was. And now that he was fairly loosened up, Fox moved in.

"So Alex, what's the situation with this panic attack? When did they start?"

Alex's tongue was loose, having been oiled up by the powerful drinks, and he felt comfortable with telling Fox. After all, the vulpine was his friend, and if he couldn't tell his friend, who could he tell?

Alex sighed. "I have been having them for some time now. Thankfully though, no one had been around to see it, at least until today."

"Why are they happening?"

At that, Alex was quiet for a moment. "Well…I am not complete certain, but I think I know why."

"What is it?"

The human leaned onto the bar, crossing his arms and staring at the wall of colored bottles. "Remember when I talked about the effects of the marker's signal, all that time ago?"

Fox nodded, apprehension building in his gut. "Yeah, you said it could really mess someone up."

"I think that may be what's happening to me. And if it is, it will only get worse…a lot worse."

"Is there any way to stop it?"

"Not that we found, unless you count eating a bullet."

Fox shook his muzzle negatively. "That's not stopping it."

Alex looked to his friend. "Listen Fox, if I do get worse, and I almost certainly will, and I am unable to do it myself. I need you to be the one to pull the trigger."

Fox vehemently denied that. "No way Alex, it won't come to that! We have doctors, they can…no, they will find a way to help you."

Alex smiled sadly. "I don't think they can Fox. Can you promise me that if I start to go, that you will be the one to prevent it? I need to know Fox. Otherwise I'll have to make other arrangements."

"Why Alex, why do you have to be put down?" Fox growled.

"BECAUSE, I CAN MAKE THEM, FOX!" Alex loudly exclaimed before he sighed heavily and muttered quietly. "I can make them, those goddamn markers."

Fox then recalled that he had told them that it was one of the ways that markers could be built, that the knowledge would be implanted in the hosts head. "I…I promise." The vulpine exhaled heavily.

Alex nodded his head in satisfaction. "Thank you Fox, as crazy as it sounds. I am thankful that you will be the one to end it if I am too far gone. You're a good friend."

Fox scoffed, but smiled. "Yeah, good friends promise to kill other good friends. That sounds about right."

Alex grinned and lifted his fifth drink. "That it does, now…how about we get smashed eh?"

Fox grinned back and picked up his drink and chugged it, placing the empty container near a small grouping of other empty glasses. "Now, that is a plan I can get behind."

After it was all said and done, the human and the vulpine staggered out of the closing club, arm in fuzzy arm. They sung terribly off-key tunes and meandered down the sidewalk and towards the hotel as the night sky slowly brightened, signaling the start of a new day.


	11. Chapter 11

Shattered: Redux

Chapter X: First Steps

_The first step is always the hardest…_

_-Anonymous_

One month prior….

A small salvage ship floated through space in the uncharted regions of the Lylat System, scouting for materials to harvest. Inside the tiny ship was a pair of individuals, an ape and a gecko. Both of them had spent the last year and a half searching for space junk to sell to recycling centers. Since they started, they had made a descent profit off of their exploits and were content with what they had going for them.

But, that day they would find something that would change the face of the System forever.

Rico, the ape, was staring at the sensors, yawning every few seconds. The job paid decently, but it was a mind numbingly boring task. It was hard to stay focused when your job entailed staring out into empty space for hours on end. Not only that, but the present company wasn't exactly the most intellectually stimulating.

Darwin, the green gecko, was sitting in the co-pilot's chair, claw dug up his nose as he searched for a chunk of green gold. Rico sighed and looked away from the gecko.

Space was a better venue.

So far they had not discovered anything in the past three days and the cramped ship was starting to get on his nerves. If they didn't find something soon, he would call it quits and head back home to relax before coming back out. IF he didn't get a break every now and then he was bound to lose his mind.

Eventually, he lost it. "Grah, there's nothing out here!" The ape slammed a fist onto the sensor console, sending a wave of static dancing across.

Darwin lazily looked over from his spot. "Relax Rico, we'll find something. We always do."

"Yeah, but at this pace I'm bound to go crazy first!" He snarled.

Darwin shrugged easily. "Maybe, but at least try and keep it to yourself. I don't want to have to deal with it."

Rico emitted a growl in response. But it eventually faded off into a groan and the simian slammed his head into the console with a defeated sigh.

Seconds afterwards the instruments went haywire, beeping erratically and lighting up the cabin in a plethora of lights. Rico jolted his head back up and looked at the console confusedly. "What in the hell is this?"

Darwin flicked away a booger and leaned towards the consoles. "It looks like there is a small object just inside sensor range, and it is emitting an unbelievable amount of energy. It's off the charts!"

Rico grinned and rubbed his palms together. "Well Darwin, it looks like our luck is about to change." The simian smiled as he clutched the control sticks for their small craft and gunned the engines, speeding towards the mysterious object.

In moments they arrived at the source of the signal. It was hard to see at first, but Darwin spotted a small shape floating in space that shone a deep shade of red. For all intents and purposes it looked like a chunk of rock, perhaps a piece of a meteor that chipped off. Whatever it was, it was shooting out an ungodly amount of energy. "Hey Rico, snatch that thing up."

The ape nodded eagerly and used the smaller set of controls to maneuver a pair of claws tucked under the ship's nose. He used the left one to grasp it and pulled the chunk of stone into the small receptacle built into the bottom.

With it secured, both salvagers scrambled out of their seats and scurried down the small stairs to the cargo hold. Rico grabbed the handle at the front of the hold and pulled it out to expose a little bin, where the chunk of glowing red stone sat.

He hesitantly touched it and recoiled when a burst of energy coursed through his mind. He stumbled backwards and clutched his head as it was assaulted with a thousand whispering voices, like nails on a chalkboard.

"Hey Rico, are you alright there buddy?" Darwin asked worriedly as he moved over to his friend.

Eventually, the voices faded to a dull mutter and the ape regained his senses. "Yeah, I'm fine." He replied quietly. He could still hear the voices in the back of his head, behind his eyes. They were whispering things that made his stomach twist. But he dismissed them as a flight of fancy and waved it off. But he could not shake the sudden urge to get this hunk of rock back to his home. "Let's get this thing back to Titania. I think that the researchers there would like to see it."

Are you sure about that Rico? I mean you touched it and it didn't look like you had fun. Perhaps we should just dump it back into space." Darwin suggested, looking to the now menacingly glowing rock with unease.

Rico felt a sudden surge of anger and whirled on his friend. "DON'T QUESTION ME! JUST DO IT!"

Darwin backed away fearfully from his friend, terrified at his sudden and strange transformation. "Sure things Rico, no problem, I'll get the ship going." The gecko swiftly turned away from his friend and scampered up the ladder to the cockpit, setting the course.

Once his friend was gone, Rico walked over to the bin and hefted the chunk of stone, staring at the strange glowing runes etched into it, he felt as if his soul was being sucked inside the porous rock. As he held it, the voices in his head grew in volume and number, causing the ape to grin savagely. It spoke to him, and he listened.

The small salvage ship turned away from its previous mission and increased its speed to blaze through space back to its point of origin. As it shifted, the insignia painted onto its hull became visible, an intimidating apes head with a large red V superimposed behind it.

* * *

Alex woke up groaning and clutching his head. It felt as if a blacksmith was viciously using his skull as an anvil. "Uggh, okay no more heavy drinking." He lectured himself as he tried to sit up. But something was holding him down, something warm and fuzzy. Alex opened his eyes and looked down.

"Ah shit." He muttered.

Fox was sprawled out next to him, and had an arm draped across his stomach. It looked like they had stumbled into their room and just collapsed in front of the beds in a jumbled heap. "Hey fuzzball, wake up!" Alex pushed Fox and the vulpine slid off of him tiredly, waking up.

"Uggh, I had too many drinks." Fox moaned groggily, clutching his muzzle in his paws and shaking it back and forth.

"You think so?" Alex mocked as he tried to stand up and failing horribly.

Fox slugged him on the arm and made the human fall back down. "I know so."

"It was your idea fur for brains." Alex retorted as he finally managed to get himself up and sitting on his unused bed. "You were the one who took us there. I was just along for the damn ride."

"That may be so, but you can't blame it all on me. I didn't force you to drink so much." Fox defended himself as he unsteadily stood on his paws and walked over to the table in the room, where a bottle of pills sat. He twisted the cap off and rolled out a quartet of blue tablets. Fox damned two of them dry and walked over to Alex with the remainders. "Here, take these. They should cancel out the hangover."

Alex quickly snatched them out of the vulpine's paw and swallowed without hesitation. "They better work on me Fox."

"They should, you have the same inner workings as us. Or…it just might kill you." Fox chuckled.

"That would be an improvement." Alex snapped with a groan as he massaged his temples.

Fox shook his head in amusement and looked down at his comms bracer. "I doubt it." He flicked open the cover and used a furred finger to scroll its contents.

Alex sat on his bed and watched as the vulpine worked, waiting for his headache to recede. At one point, Fox frowned and grunted.

"What?"

"I got a message from Peppy; it is a few hours old though. I wonder what it's about." He clacked a claw against the screen and his eyes swiveled as he read the message's contents. The longer he read, the deeper his frown became. Fox finished reading and slowly closed the cover for his bracer. "Pack up." He ordered suddenly as he walked over to his bag and stuffed his things in it.

Alex did as the vulpine instructed, but was not thrilled with his friend's tone. "Is it bad?"

Fox nodded as he swung his bag onto his shoulder. "Yeah, it looks like something huge is happening near Venom. He wants us to head back to Corneria on the double. It looks like vacation time is over."

Alex sighed. He was starting to enjoy his free time and now it looked like he would have to take a rain check on it. But he supposed that was what happened when you belonged to the best mercenary group in the system. You tended to be put on call. "Alright Fox, let's go get the others."

It went without saying that no one was pleased with this new development. "Aw jeez Fox, we just got here!" Falco muttered as they walked out of the hotel.

"Yeah well, after we solve this problem, I promise we'll get a whole month to goof off." Fox assured as they walked towards the hover car. The walk was longer than usual, considering that he and Alex had left it at the club.

But in no time they were all cramped back in and speeding towards the spaceport.

"Did the old hare mention anything in particular about what was going on?" Miyu asked from her seat besides Alex and Krystal.

Fox shook his head as he drove. "No, he just declared that it was critical that we all be back as soon as possible."

"I hope it isn't anything too bad." Slippy said nervously, wringing his webbed hands.

"I hope so too." Fay added with a whine.

"It might be though, he did allude that Venom was somehow involved." Fox explained.

"That could mean nothing but trouble." Krystal said undoubtedly.

"Yeah, those guys are always up to no good." Falco grumbled.

Alex had heard of Venom. They had instigated the past war that plunged the system into chaos and were the ones responsible for the destruction of Krystal's homeworld. That immediately put them on the human's shit list. "If they are, then they are in for a world of hurt." Alex vowed darkly. "They still have much to answer for."

Krystal and Miyu frowned at his tone. It was not pleasant for them to see him so angry. It didn't fit with the man they had gotten to know. Krystal placed a comforting paw on his shoulder.

At the touch of her pads, his grimace faded and he looked to her with a small smile. She smiled back; happy that he was down from whatever it was that had caused him to change.

The rest of the ride went smoothly and they returned the rental before boarding there carrier and plotting a course back to Corneria. It would take a day and a half to get back without the Beltino Orbital Gate System. It was still in disrepair after the aparoid war and would not be back to pre-war strength for some time to come. It still needed a great deal of funds before reconstruction could be finished.

Alex split off from the group as soon as they entered the ship and made his way to his cabin, intent on taking the rest of the day to relax in solitude. He wanted to use that time to try and resolve his grandstanding issue.

The human slipped into his small room and sat on the bed, turning off the lights. Almost immediately that same heart stopping despair flooded his system and the shadows in his room took on familiar monstrous shapes. As he sat in the dark, a faint whispering trickled through his mind and his muscles began to lock up. Alex wasted no time in slamming the lights back on.

He sighed in frustration and collapsed onto his bed, squeezing his pillow as hard as he could. Once his anger dissipated he let go off the cushion and sat up. It was beyond maddening that he was afflicted in such a way. He felt as if he was becoming a hindrance to the team and himself. How would he be able to function, if for some reason he was forced to fight in the dark? It made him a liability, and that was unacceptable. He swore to himself that he would beat this, taming his fears. The only preventative measure they had for the effects of the marker was conditioning. Soldiers who began to show symptoms were sent to a facility where they were _'exposed'_ to what it was that afflicted them. They had called the place _'The Gulag'_. The methods used were completely questionable but the results kept the facility running. Sometimes, soldiers who went there didn't come back. But those who did were returned to some semblance of normalcy.

Alex didn't have a facility to face his fears, so he would just have to do it the old fashioned way, by himself.

And so with a hard-pressed sigh, he flicked the light back off.

* * *

Krystal sat with Miyu in the feline's room. The walls were decorated with posters of famous metal bands, guns, and of kittens, it was an odd collaboration of pictures, and yet it suited the cat perfectly.

"So, how are we going to go about this?" Miyu inquired as she looked to her friend.

They had decided to head to a private room so they could discuss how they were going to handle their love situation. It was something that had to be addressed soon. It could not wait forever.

Krystal sat with her tail and paws folded in her lap as she looked to Miyu. "I can only see one solution that would not endanger our friendship and yet we would still get what we want."

"The pack law." Miyu nodded her muzzle in understanding.

"Correct, if we decide to go down that road, we will both get what we desire." Krystal agreed.

Miyu shook her muzzle ruefully. "Huh, never thought I would be in a pack."

"I can promise you I did not think that either." Krystal added with a smirk. "But, I think that he is worth it."

Miyu granted the vixen that. "So, if we are rolling with this, how do we broach it with the big man? He probably wouldn't understand it. I don't think they had that where he came from."

"We will just have to wait for the right time, although I am not sure when that will be." Krystal replied uncertainly. "This is not exactly something we can get help with. There aren't that many packs left."

"That's true." Miyu established. "I suppose we will have to make our own way, won't we?"

"You do always go on about adventure, and this certainly qualifies as one." Krystal sat up a little straighter and fidgeted with her bushy tail. "It will undoubtedly be weird and a little rough at first, but I think that in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the negatives. We just have to persevere."

Miyu nodded, and they spent the rest of the day trying to oil everything out and get it nailed down.

* * *

The Great Fox touched down at the main starport at the Cornerian capital. Fox and the rest of the team filed out and were surprised to see that a car was already waiting for them, and the two drivers were heavily armed. It did not exactly send a positive message. Whatever Peppy was worried about must indeed be serious.

The climbed into the car and were ushered towards the CDF HQ. With the car parked out front, they entered the building and made their way to Peppy's office on the top floor. Stepping inside, they noticed that Peppy was not alone, and that Major General Leers was standing beside the seated hare.

"Welcome my friends." Peppy greeted warmly and gestured for them to sit down at the row of chairs before his large oaken desk. "Please sit. Alex, I trust you are acclimatizing well?"

The human took a seat near the middle next to Fox and responded. "Yes sir, I am doing well."

Peppy's muzzle tilted up. "Good to hear that son, I had a feeling that you would be fine." Leers coughed and Peppy frowned. "Yes, well I suppose that we should get down to business."

"Yeah…" Falco muttered. "What's the deal Pep, we were on vacation."

Peppy sighed. "I am afraid, Falco, that the _deal_ as you put it, is dire." Peppy gestured and Leers fiddled with something in his hand. Moments later the top of the General's desk was filled with the holographic image of a desolate and desert strewn world. "No doubt, you are aware of what planet this is?"

Slippy groaned. "Yeah, that's Titania." If anyone knew it was the toad, he had been captured by the Goras and was rescued thanks to Fox's efforts. It did not have a positive connotation for the team and especially not for the young toad.

"Yes indeed Slip, this is Titania. And what you may not know was that it remains to this day, one of the most heavily guarded Venomian research bases in Lylat."

"What does that have to do with us?" Fay inquired.

At this point Leers entered the conversation. "It is relevant because we received an unencrypted distress beacon from the research base situated underneath the desert planet's surface. That in itself is cause for worry. Never before has a Venomian base broadcasted its location, and we want to know what happened."

Miyu shook her head. "That sounds ominous."

"Indeed, that is why we want you to investigate and discover the reason for the bases unguarded beacon." Leers explained.

This made Falco Scoff. "You want _us_, to go down on that death world and recon the most heavily guarded venomian base, which just so happened to send a distress beacon for no discernable reason. That screams trap to me."

Peppy nodded grimly. "Believe me Falco, that was one of our first conclusions. But even with that very real possibility, we can't ignore this development. And your team is the most experienced with that world, no one else had ever been there and comeback alive."

"Don't worry, you will have support. I will donate a squad of commandos from the 48th division; they are the best I have." Leers added.

"What kind of pay are we talking about?" Fox inquired.

"It's a standard large contractor fee of 50,000 credits and an additional 5,000 credits per gigabyte of any research you can steal while you are down there." Peppy answered. "So…will you take the job?"

Fox nodded. It was a pretty solid chunk of cash. "Alright Pep, we'll take it."

Peppy sighed in relief. "Excellent, that's a weight off my shoulders. Thank you."

They all nodded and Leers laid out the plan. "You will head to Titania immediately and rendezvous with the squad of commandos in orbit. I have already sent them and they are waiting for you. From there, you will head down to the base and enter it, your method of entry is not important, just find a way in. The rest will be relatively simple, discover the purpose of the beacon and snatch any research you can get your paws on."

Peppy dismissed them and they all quickly left the building, heading back to their ship. "Here we go again, another crazy mission." Falco sighed along the way.

The travel time to Titania was swift, as Alex and Slippy managed to boost the engines. But it would still take 15 hours before they arrived. So until then they all sat around the ship and relaxed.

Alex was in the armory, testing his weapons and making sure that they would be ready for whatever it was they might find down there. He was curious to see what this was all about. It would also be the first mission that he and the others would do together and he wanted to ensure that he wouldn't let them down.

He stood on the range and loaded his handgun and as he brought up the simulator and keyed it to run at the hardest difficulty. Seconds after he pressed the start key, targets began to pop up in rapid succession from a dozen different angles in a hundred different sizes.

His pistol barked loudly and shells jumped out of the gun as he kept up with the range's grueling pace. In less than a minute his gun ran dry and he emptied it, swiftly slapping another mag into the grip and racking the slide, continuing uninterrupted. His eyes swiveled back and forth from the targets as he filled them full of holes as fast and accurately as he could.

Soon, the last target was perforated and the range beeped. Alex took off the earmuffs and placed them down on the ledge of his booth. A small screen on the wall lit up and showed his score.

**Thirty/Thirty targets eliminated**

**57 Hits**

**3 Misses**

**95% Accuracy**

**Grade A **

Alex nodded in satisfaction, glad that his skills had not faded completely. He pressed a button on the wall and the thirty targets were rolled out for inspection. He examined them and chuckled amusedly. Most of the hits were centered on the target's limbs, elbows, knees, throats, places where they would have been dismembered if they had been living creatures.

"Impressive scoring, although most people usually go for the head."

Alex looked over his shoulder to see Miyu standing there with her paws on her hips and smiling in the way that made his heart begin to pound. She was wearing a snug fitting blue shirt that hugged her chest tightly, a pair of slim grey pants, and thick black boots. Holstered on her hip, was the handgun he had given her. As he looked at her, he began to recall what happened on the beach and it set him on edge.

He didn't want something like that to happen again….or rather he did, but he knew that it would only make things more painful in the end.

"Yeah, well you could say that it was a force of habit." He answered, turning back to his booth. He knew that the longer he looked at her, the more tempted he would be to pursue her.

The lynx frowned at his dismissive air. She had been hoping to talk to him and perhaps explain their decision. But it seemed that he was still wary of her after the beach incident. And for that she had no one to blame but herself.

With a sigh, she entered the booth beside him and started it up. She tried to focus on shooting but couldn't concentrate on it. She was too distracted by Alex to do as well as she normally did, plus the weapon was still new to her and threw the cat off a little.

After her first round, the range beeped and shut down, shortly followed by the screen on the wall rolling out her score.

**Ten/Thirty targets hit**

**15 Hits**

**45 Misses**

**25% Accuracy **

**Grade F**

Miyu hissed in frustration and slammed a paw onto the screen.

"Need a little help there?"

The Feline looked to see Alex behind her, smiling softly.

Alex had looked over to Miyu and saw that she obviously needed his help. That sparked an internal debate as he tried to puzzle out if he should be the one to help her or not. He decided that helping her was the right thing to do and so he had stepped away from his booth and walked over to her.

Miyu nodded gently and so he moved to stand behind her. "Your biggest problem is that your grip on the gun is too loose. It was meant to be held firmly and confidently." Alex placed his hands on her paws and moved them so that they had a better hold on the gun.

As his fingers ran across her furred paws, a tingling feeling traveled up her arms and towards her heart. A shallow purr began to run in her chest and she was tempted to lean back against his chest. But she held herself back and instead nodded at what he was telling her.

"Okay, now you are going to want to keep your arms loose so that they will be ready for the recoil." Alex ran his palms down her arms slowly and made it so that she was not tensed up. "If you tense up, it'll throw off your aim."

Miyu shivered as he rolled his fingers across her fur and massaged her muscles in order to slacken them. Her ears flicked as she felt his warm breath tickle their tips as he leaned in close. Occasionally his chest would brush against her back and she could feel his firm muscles glide across. At this point if she wanted to talk, she would be unable to; all that would come out would be a soft ecstatic moan.

"The rest is easy." He continued, unaware of the effect he was having on her and started the next simulation. "All you have to do is take a deep breath and…squeeze." She went through the entire simulation with him behind her and at the end the results were plastered across the screen.

**Twenty-Five/Thirty targets hit**

**50 Hits**

**10 Misses**

**85% Accuracy**

**Grade B**

Miyu could hear the smile in his tone. "There, see? You did a lot better this time." He patted her on the shoulder and squeezed gently, almost making her moan loudly.

She heard him turn to walk back to his booth and at that moment she decided to hell with the consequences. At the moment she wanted him, and she was going to do her best to get him.

Alex turned to head back to his booth, glad that he had been able to help her. Before he could complete his turn, he felt a warm furry body force itself onto him and slammed the human into the wall of the booth.

Miyu wrapped her furred arms under his shoulders and coiled her tail around his waist. Before he could get a word in edgewise, she snatched his lips in her muzzle and filled his mouth with her tongue, delving into the exceedingly familiar environment.

She slid her paws down and up, slipping into his shirt to caress his bare skin. She lifted her left leg and brought it around his. The dampness between her legs needed relief and so she pressed her covered mound against his hardening bulge in a dry-hump.

By this time, Alex's mind was slowly booting back up from its sudden shutdown and he placed his hands on her chest and pushed her back in alarm. "What the hell, Miyu?!" He demanded; face flushed with denied arousal.

The feline's back collided with the other side of the booth and she panted, catching her breath. She looked back at him hesitantly and saw his angry expression, immediately causing her ears to fold back. Once more she realized that she had tried again and that made her tear up. "I'm sorry." She whispered hoarsely.

At the sound of her voice, the anger fled his face and he sighed. "It's fine."

"No it's not!" Miyu yowled. "I did it again!"

Alex stared at her pained face quietly, unsure as to how to deal with this development. After a moment he decided that it would be best to deal with this now. "I…" He exhaled weightily. "Miyu look, I do like you, I really do. You are an amazing woman. You're full of enthusiasm and life and you're not afraid to speak your mind. That's one of the reasons that I do like you. But…I can't do _this_ with you." He gestured back and forth, indicating what she had tried to do minutes before.

"Why the hell not?" She demanded angrily.

"It's just not that simple. I….god I feel like an asshole." He covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. "I like you Miyu, hell I even love you. But you aren't the only girl I love. I love Krystal too." Alex shook his head and wiped a hand across his face. "God…I definitely _sound_ like an asshole." He muttered derisively at himself. "What I am trying to say is that it would not be right. You two would be better off with guys who aren't like me. You don't need some love addled moron who wants two girls to himself."

"Well what if I do?" She growled, amber eyes flashing with irritation. "Last time I checked buster," She prodded his chest with a claw. "I get to choose who I want!"

"So why would you choose me?" He demanded, rounding on her. "I have feelings for two different women, I'm an _alien_, and I'm not even the same fucking man I used to be!" He shouted, making the feline flinch.

Alex slid down the side of the booth and down to the floor, cradling his head in his hands and continuing in a softer tone. "I am not the same man I used to be, Miyu. I…there's things I can't tell you, or even the others, only Fox has a small idea. There's too many things wrong with me…too many broken parts that can't be fixed. And it will only get worse."

Miyu looked down at the defeated man and crouched down beside him, placing a paw on his knee. "I don't care. I made my choice a long time ago. And I'm not going to change it." She told him with a warm smile.

He looked up to her, at her smiling feline muzzle, and he frowned. "You should, you'll be happier and life will be easier without me in the picture."

Miyu shook her muzzle and chuckled dryly. "Life isn't about making easy choices, Alex. It's about making the right ones. And I think you're wrong about that, I'll be happier with what I decide."

The human's frown faded. "What about the other problem?"

"What, Krystal?" Miyu replied, sitting down beside him. "I think you'll find that it won't be a problem. I'm guessing that you've never heard of the pack law?"

He shook his head in confusion.

"Well than, allow me to elaborate. The pack law states that any male or female can establish a pack. This ancient bylaw hails down from the early ages of our society, long before governments were established; back when the only law was oneself. It means that as long as you can care for, protect, feed, and nurture them, you can have more than one mate, up to but not acceding four. It was created after the old clan wars that reduced the male population by more than half. Although that is no longer an issue, the law remains unchanged. "

Alex had definitely never heard of this law before. "It is still in use then?" He asked, baffled at the thought.

Miyu nodded. "Yeah, there are a few packs left, most are actually pretty famous. But you wouldn't know that."

"So…this is normal?"

She shrugged. "It's not normal, but it is an accepted practice."

He nodded slowly. "And….you're fine with being in one of these _packs_, as you call it?"

"It definitely was not on my wants list." She giggled. "But I can roll with it."

"I…need some time to think." He told her, standing up.

She stood up with him and nodded. "I understand, it is probably confusing for you." Miyu slid her muzzle over to his left ear and dragged her tongue across the nape of his neck, sending shivers down his spine at the warm wet caress. _"But don't take too long."_ She whispered huskily before turning around and strutting away, flicking her tail across his cheek. "I might take matters into my own hand."

Alex watched as she exited the armory, and sighed. As if his life wasn't complicated enough. He chuckled. "I think I'll like this complication." He said to himself as he walked over to his empty suit.

Fox sat on the bridge in the captain's chair, watching as the light trails from the warp that the carrier traveled through. He was worried about the mission. They had no idea what they would be up against and despite the addition of a team of commandos, he was still nervous. This was his team, his family, and it they got hurt or god forbid, were killed…

He didn't want to even think about it.

The vulpine sighed and prayed that it would all work out. As he watched the stellar lights, the door to the bridge hissed open and in stepped Alex, fully decked out in his strange armor. Fox had to admit that he looked pretty intimidating in the heavy suit of black and blue, and the strange slanted visor was interesting in an alien way.

Alex walked over to where Fox was and stood by the chair, plated arms folded. "Hey Fox."

"Sup Alex, I'm glad to see that you're ready to go." Fox turned to look at his friend. "I hope you will be up for another bout with the forces of Venom."

"I'll be ready when you need me Fox. I won't let you down." The human assured with a kindly tone to his synthesized voice.

Fox grinned. "I know you won't. Otherwise I wouldn't let you forget it."

The both of them chuckled and Alex sighed. "It never gets easy, does it?"

"What?" Fox asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Life…." Alex responded. "It just seems to get infinitely more complicated."

Fox had no idea what the human was going on about, so Alex told him what he had Miyu had discussed. That made the vulpine chuckle. "You know, most guys would be thrilled to be in that situation."

"I'm not most guys Fox." Alex replied with an annoyed growl.

"Wow, temper dude." Fox chided.

The human exhaled heavily. "Sorry Fox, it's particularly bad today." He replied, alluding to his mental dilemma. "I'm a little jumbled up at the moment."

"Oh…no need to apologize then, I understand….will you be ready for the mission?" Fox asked quietly.

Alex's helmet bobbed up and down in confirmation. "Don't worry about it Fox, it won't affect my combat capabilities, I've gotten used to fighting with it."

"Alright…" Fox replied. "But if you need a breather don't try to be a Falco, just take it."

"What do you mean, being a Falco?" They heard the avian demand as he sauntered into the room with his customary flare.

"Oh you know how you are Falco. You won't admit anything until it's too late." Fox explained with a laugh.

"I'm just not much of a baby as you guys." Falco retorted with a snort as he took a seat to the side.

"Uh huh, yeah whatever." Fox rolled his eyes.

"So, why would fleshy here need a break?" Falco inquired as he planted his boots onto the console near his chair.

Fox looked to Alex, and the human gave a swift denial. He trusted Falco, but he only wanted one of his friends to hold the burden of that knowledge. "He's just feeling a little ill today that's all." He replied.

"Huh, that's pretty weak." Falco muttered.

Fox was about to scold Falco, but Alex placed a gauntlet on his furred shoulder and shook his head. "It's alright, He doesn't know." The human said quietly.

A few minutes later, the side of Fox's chair beeped and the scenery on the outside changed, showing a large tan planet with a huge ship orbiting overhead. "It looks like we're here." Falco announced, standing up from his chair and heading towards the doors of the bridge. 'I'll get the others and get them to head down to the hanger."

Fox nodded and took a closer look at the desert world and the ship above it.

The planet looked pretty much as he remembered it, although he did notice a slight tinge to the atmosphere that he could not place. He was sure that it was not there last time.

The ship in orbit was a Cornerian battlecruiser, a massive white, wedged vessel with blue trimming. On its side was the cornerian military emblem, a blue holographic planet with three red stars and a C wrapped around it, surrounded by laurels. The name of the ship was the CNDF _Arcfury_.

Fox had heard of the Arcfury, it served in the final year of the Lylat Wars and throughout the entire aparoid invasion. It was one of the new Defender-series vessels, featuring redundant shield generators and high yield lance batteries. Its fighter squadrons were some of the best pilots in the CNDF fighter core.

"That's a big ship, I hope it's friendly." Alex remarked as he looked at the intimidating cruiser.

"It is." Fox assured his friend and stood up from his chair. "Come on, let's head over. I'm sure the captain would like to brief us on the situation."

The team took their arwings and flew to the cruiser, Alex co-piloting for Krystal. They were allowed to board the ship and landed their craft in Hanger bay B. They all stepped out and saw that the captain was already waiting for them.

She was a mid-sized raccoon in a blue and white suit, which matched her ship well. The uniformed women stood at attention, paws behind her back, to the side of where they landed. Standing behind here, were five completely armored furs. Their armor was silver and glowed with a soft blue light. As Alex climbed out of Krystal's Cloudrunner, he could not help but notice that one of the soldier's helmets covered a pair of incredibly long ears. They were at least a foot high.

He pegged his curiosity down and walked with the team to where the captain was standing.

"I…am Captain Aurora Cane. I have no love for pleasantries so we shall get down to brass tacks." She barked in a commanding tone, reminding the human of his sergeant. "You have a mission, and I have my own."

"That's correct captain." Fox nodded.

"Indeed, I was told that I would be donating my best squad of commandos for this mission, and that is not what I wanted to hear. But orders are orders, and these came from the Major General himself." Displeasure was evident in her voice.

"Yeah…" Fox smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his furred head.

"Just do what you were told to do and bring back my soldiers." The disgruntled raccoon replied before turning on her heels and marching away. "Step to it." She added as she disappeared from view. The five armored soldiers stayed behind so they assumed that these were the commandos.

"Well, looks like we're going to be working together." Fox said as he turned to the squad leader with the long ears.

"It'll be just like old times eh Fox?" The feminine voice issued out of the helmet's speakers with a chuckle.

"Huh?" Fox mumbled.

The squad leader twisted her helmet and popped it off with a hiss of air, revealing a vixen with dark red fur and long fluffy ears. She had startling bright green eyes and a smirk on her muzzle.

"F-Fara!" Fox exclaimed in shock, recoiling.

"The one and only, Fox." She replied, placing her helmet in the crook of her arm.

Alex watched this exchange with confusion. He had no idea who this woman was, but judging from Fox's reaction, and that of the surprised faces of everyone else, he concluded that she was significant in the team's dynamic.

"I-how, what happened?" Fox asked. Last he saw her, she was working as a pilot, this was a radical change.

"I switched careers after you dumped me." She replied with a hint of anger. "Flying just didn't feel the same after that."

Alex winced.

Yeah, she definitely was pretty significant. It looked like there was a lot of anger here, and so he decided to pull Fox's furry ass out of the fire. "So…" He said loudly, getting everyone's attention. "You're the team of commandos."

"And you're the alien." The female fox countered snappily a she turned to the helmetless human.

"Yes well now that introductions are done, how about we focus on the mission." Alex replied, just as curtly.

The vixen nodded grimly. "Yes, let's get this over with." She put her helmet back on and made a circular motion with her finger, making the other four unknown soldiers rally on her. "We have a shuttle we'll be taking to the surface. You can meet us down there." She turned and walked away, heading towards a large boxy craft on the other side of the hanger.

"Shit." Falco grunted. "This'll be interesting." He turned to head back to his fighter.

Alex shared a look with Miyu and Krystal before walking over to Fox, who was staring at the spot Fara had been standing on. "You okay there Fox?" The human asked, placing a gauntlet on his friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'll be okay." Fox sighed. "I just didn't expect to be seeing her. That makes this whole thing a little more unpleasant."

"Yeah, I could tell." Alex replied with a snort. "What happened, Fox?"

"We fell out, I figured that I didn't lover her and I would only be holding her back, and she took it hard. It was a bad time." Fox explained as he looked up to Alex. "It looks like she's still angry, can't blame her though."

'Well, all the better that we get this done as soon as possible eh Fox?" Alex asked, placing an arm on his friend and maneuvering him back to his ship.

"Absolutely, the sooner we get this done the better." Fox agreed quietly, heading back to his ship.

Alex watched him depart and shook his head before walking over to Krystal. "I think Fox is going to hate this mission."

The cerulean vixen nodded. "I could feel the anger and hurt radiating off that women, she needs help more than Fox does. Be nice to her Alex." Krystal ordered, climbing back into their ship.

"Okay, I will." He promised, sliding in the chair behind her. "But don't expect me to kiss her ass." Alex added grumpily.

"I wouldn't dream of it." Krystal giggled and closed the canopy for their ship.


End file.
